The Aggro Lions, the Sleeper-ish Hawks, Million-Dollar Picks, and Jesse Ventura on His Surprise WWE Return

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Bill Simmons Podcast Episode: The Aggro Lions, the Sleeper-ish Hawks, Million-Dollar Picks, and Jesse Ventura on His Surprise WWE Return
Release Date: December 6, 2024
Host: Bill Simmons
Guest: Jesse "The Body" Ventura

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1. Reaction to the Lions-Packers Game ([04:40] - [14:22])

Overview of the Game: Bill Simmons and co-host Joe House delve into their analysis of the recent Detroit Lions versus Green Bay Packers game. Simmons praises the game's excitement and coverage, noting key performances and strategic plays that influenced the outcome.

Key Highlights:

• Pass Interference Controversy:

  Joe House ([04:40]): "There was a holding call on Detroit in that last drive that was also ticky tack felt a little makeupy."

• Aggressive Coaching Decisions:

  Bill Simmons ([05:10]): "Goodell has now ordered that in... Are you giving me a conspiracy Super Bowl featuring the Lions and Bills?"

• Game Dynamics and Strategies:

  Bill Simmons ([07:10]): "Goff was 32 for 41 for 283. He had one bad pass, he stared the guy down through a pick."

• Offensive and Defensive Analysis:

  Joe House ([09:02]): "Ben Johnson in his bag. BS."

Conspiracy Theories and 'A Side' Theory: The hosts discuss suspicions about officiating biases favoring "A side" teams—those perceived as dominant—citing repeated favorable calls for these teams.

Bill Simmons ([05:44]): "It's like the Chiefs, where every week it feels like every call that might go their way does go their way."

2. Million-Dollar Picks and Betting Insights ([15:35] - [44:58])

Betting Strategies: Bill and Joe share their million-dollar betting picks, emphasizing their confidence in the Lions, Packers, Chiefs, and other teams. They discuss point spreads, money lines, and specific player performances that influenced their bets.

Notable Bets:

• Lions as Underdogs:

  Bill Simmons ([16:33]): "Fanduel and everybody else who makes Lions finally had enough of it and they made them three and a half point favorites at home against the Chargers."

• Kansas City Chiefs Analysis:

  Joe House ([18:26]): "This could be a chief smash spot but it could be a chief smash spot."

Key Quotes:

Bill Simmons ([35:22]): "All of those together was over six to one."

Joe House ([35:25]): "They're going to make the playoffs."

3. Jesse "The Body" Ventura's Return to WWE ([77:28] - [119:57])

Introduction to Jesse Ventura: In a special segment, Bill Simmons welcomes former professional wrestler and politician Jesse Ventura. Ventura discusses his upcoming return to WWE, his storied career in wrestling and politics, and his views on current sports and political landscapes.

Key Discussions:

• Wrestling Career Insights: Ventura recounts his experiences with Vince McMahon, his efforts to unionize wrestlers, and the challenges he faced, including being ousted from WWF/WWE.

  Jesse Ventura ([86:11]): "I made sure there was nobody from the office when I made the speech... And I made sure of it."

• Political Career and Views: Ventura reflects on his tenure as Governor of Minnesota, his criticisms of the two-party system, and his strong opinions on recent political events like the January 6th Capitol riot.

  Jesse Ventura ([138:26]): "I believe we lost it [the Constitution] this year."

• Return to WWE: Ventura expresses excitement about his role in the new WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, emphasizing a nostalgic throwback to earlier wrestling styles.

  Jesse Ventura ([77:44]): "We're going back in the time capsule, only it's going to be four times a year."

Memorable Moments:

• Interaction with Cyndi Lauper: Ventura shares an anecdote about meeting Cyndi Lauper, which led to his broadcasting career.

  Jesse Ventura ([99:06]): "Cyndi Lauper dyed my hair like, six different colors because that was in then."

• Court Case Against Vince McMahon: He details the legal battle over videotape royalties, highlighting the underhanded tactics used by McMahon.

  Jesse Ventura ([108:07]): "Vince couldn't stop it. There's no law that says he does."

4. NBA Analysis and Betting Picks ([47:02] - [129:45])

Atlanta Hawks Performance: The hosts analyze the Hawks' season, discussing player performances, trade impacts, and playoff prospects.

Joe House ([49:18]): "DeAndre Hunter. Can that dude please stay on the floor."

Betting on NBA Over/Unders: Bill and Joe share their over/under betting strategies, covering teams like the Atlanta Hawks, Oklahoma City, Houston Rockets, and the Lakers.

Bill Simmons ([50:33]): "So I did Atlanta OKC in Houston over, plus some other overs."

Playoff Predictions: They discuss playoff odds for various NBA teams, expressing strong opinions on favorites and dark horses.

Bill Simmons ([72:12]): "If you had to make a bet on the finals, Oklahoma City and Boston."

Player and Team Dynamics: The conversation touches on player injuries, team chemistry, and strategies that influence game outcomes and betting decisions.

Bill Simmons ([65:17]): "I'm very worried about them, House."

5. Concluding Thoughts and Final Bets ([129:45] - [141:31])

Final Betting Picks: Bill and Joe solidify their million-dollar picks, reiterating their confidence in their chosen teams and discussing potential risks.

Bill Simmons ([135:18]): "We're throwing the Steelers in with the Vikings, which you insisted on because they're going against Kirk Cousins."

Upcoming Episodes and Events: They mention future podcast appearances, live shows, and other promotional content related to their YouTube channel and collaborations.

Bill Simmons ([141:28]): "Enjoy the weekend. I will see you on Sunday night."

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Notable Quotes

• Pass Interference Call:

  Joe House ([04:40]): "There was a holding call on Detroit in that last drive that was also ticky tack felt a little makeupy."

• A Side Theory:

  Bill Simmons ([05:44]): "It's like the Chiefs, where every week it feels like every call that might go their way does go their way."

• Jesse Ventura on Unionizing:

  Jesse Ventura ([86:11]): "I believe my biggest contribution to wrestling was the fact that I was the first wrestler in history who made Vince McMahon deal with a manager or an agent."

• Political Critique:

  Jesse Ventura ([138:26]): "I believe we lost it [the Constitution] this year."

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Conclusion

In this episode, Bill Simmons and Joe House provide an in-depth analysis of recent NFL games, share their high-stakes betting strategies, and engage in a profound conversation with Jesse "The Body" Ventura about his multifaceted career in wrestling and politics. The blend of sports insights and personal anecdotes from a notable guest offers listeners both entertainment and thoughtful perspectives on the intersections between sports, politics, and personal resilience.

Transcript

[Bill Simmons]

Coming up, Lions, packers, football, Basketball, and Jesse the Body Ventura. All next. This episode is brought to you by Uber Reserve. You know it's a game changer for travel. Booking my ride in advance to the airport with Uber Reserve Uber Reserve makes it easy to plan my whole trip. I just did this. Booking rides up to 90 days in advance help squeeze the most out of traveling. Especially if you're doing odd hours. Rush hours like early in the morning, you gotta do it. Plus, with Uber Reserve you'll get an assigned driver, you get upfront pricing, and you get extra wait time included. So go ahead, plan like a pro. Reserve your Uber ride up to 90 days in advance. See app for details. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. State Farm helps you score an affordable price when you choose to bundle home and auto insurance with the personal price plan. Bundling home and auto, that's a pro movement. Just another way you can save on your insurance needs. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state. We're also brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network where the season finale of Truthless just dropped. It's a storytelling pod about the lies people tell, hosted by Brian Phillips. You can binge all of the episodes. Go check that out. You can check out the live show I did with Brian Russello in Denver on Wednesday night, which is now available on my YouTube channel, the bill Simmons Channel. And we had a great time. I love Denver. Thanks for having us. Got to see Jokic. Great times. Really fun podcast too. New Rewatch was coming on Monday night. It's a movie from the 90s. I'll tell you what it is on Sunday. Kind of a controversial movie. Little controversial. Anyway, FanDuel is still going to do 30 on 30 score bets. Even though the NBA cup is now over. We're going to keep it going. The 30 on 30 profit boost token. You can boost any 30 point score you want. I tweet out my picks on Fridays. I've been red hot. I hit. I hit my long shot picks two weeks in a row. I post like five guys that I like and I think I went 3 for 5, 2, 2 for 5. I hit a 12 to 1. I had a plus 700. But you can be sure to claim the PBD and place your 30 on 30 bet for Friday. Look for it on the FanDuel Sportsbook app. On this podcast Joe House and I are going to react to a fantastic Lions packers game. We do million dollar picks. We do some NBA future stuff because I was trapped on a plane in Denver frantically making Future bets on FanDuel and there were some that really jumped at me. So we're going to talk about NBA as well. And then Jesse the Body Ventura is going to come on for the first time ever to talk about his comeback. Yeah, his comeback to wwe. Plus we had to talk Predator. We had to talk Running Man. We had to talk about a whole bunch of stuff. Really fun. He did a lot of the talking. I'm just going to tell you now. I had a great time. So that's the pod. Let's bring in our friends not from Yacht Rock which is still available by the way on Max. We did really well. Was like in the top four on Max for like five six days in a row. Got some great feedback too. Everybody really seems like they liked it. So check out ya Rock on Max. Not our friends from Yacht Rock, our friends from Pearl Jet. All right. We are taping this right after the Lions packers game. It was 8:37 Pacific Time. We were hoping that would be a really good game. It seemed like it was going to be a really good game and then it was a really good game and even better. Packers plus three and a half covered my adjusted packers plus four and a half with love. 200 plus passing yards that covered won my first million dollar pick already. Um Detroit had the ball 36 minutes house. They had 280 yards passing. They out gained the packers by over 100 yards and felt like they dominated the game. And yet I kind of feel like the packers blew it. They had the ball first down after that long completion over the middle and they were inside the 20 and then they all of a sudden they just kind of and they're settling for a field goal and I really feel like they had it.

[Joe House]

Well it was. It was first and goal and there was to me a very suspicious pass interference. Offensive pass interference call that push them way back. Yeah, it didn't. I mean the number of times that occurs at a football game and it goes uncalled and they were inside of. It happened like virtually at the line of scrimmage. So.

[Bill Simmons]

So are you. Wait a second. Are you giving me. You think that we are headed toward a Lions Bills conspiracy Super bowl. The two losers. Somebody has to win.

[Joe House]

This is. This is.

[Bill Simmons]

Goodell has now ordered that in.

[Joe House]

Not only I love that and you know who especially loves it? His cousin Sal. Cause I think that was his prediction for. I think it was the super bowl matchup for this season. I like, look, I'm not going to, you know, say bad things about it. Detroit is an A side team now. Detroit gets A side calls.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, explain that, because that's a Raheem phrase that you guys don't ring your gambling show for my audience. They might not know what that is, but it's Raheem's best thing. Yeah, it's like his best theory. I love it. But explain the A side.

[Joe House]

I'll try and do it. It's when you've achieved a certain status, when you have. And the best example of it in the NFL is the Chiefs, where every week it feels like every call that might go their way does go their way. Every ball that bounces seems to find the hands of the team that is the A side team. I think it's basically that concept.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, it's like the. It's a Monday night game. Somebody's getting three and a half in their home, and you could just tell in the first quarter the calls are going their way, and it's like, oh, they're the A side today. It's a good one. LeBron's been the A side in the NBA for, like, 15 years, kind of. The warriors had a few A side runs on their end, too. But it's, It's a good theory. But yet I felt like considering that Love had 31 yards at halftime, they seem completely blindsided by how good the Lions defense looked in that, that first drive when they were just flying in and hounding them. And then they found something with the run game. Then they started taking shots deep, and it felt like by the time we're in the fourth quarter, it actually felt like the packers were a slightly better team. And then they just couldn't. Couldn't hold the Lions off. They got that fourth, that big fourth down stop. And if I'm the Packers, I'm feeling good. I can play with that team. I can go in there in the playoffs in January and I can hang with that team. And I'm not, like, losing sleep. You're going to be the wild card anyway.

[Joe House]

The entirety of that fourth quarter felt to me like whichever team has the ball ass is going to win the football game, which is a testament to, you know, the matchup. But I just want to be clear. I know that I said the A side thing about that dubious pass interference call. There was a holding call on Detroit in that last drive that was also ticky tack felt a little makeupy. And to Detroit's credit, they overcame that. Went right down the field. You know, crazy Dan Campbell goes for it on a fourth down that, you know, had Jared Goff falling over because he gets his foot stepped on by a lineman. They still get the yards. They still, you know, are able to just clinch the game that way. But that's the way it goes when you, when your things are running in your favor.

[Bill Simmons]

On the nine text threads I was on during this game, most people thought Campbell was a lunatic. I actually liked it. And it goes to what you said a minute ago. It started to feel like a. Whoever had the ball last game and he was going to. If you kick a field goal there, Love gets the ball on his own 30 with 43 seconds left. And I feel like they would have been able to go down the field and get in a field goal range. So, you know, it's fourth and inches. They didn't get it earlier. To me, a lot of these times I like when the Lions go for it. There's other situations where I hate it, like, you know, like the Jaguars, you know, when you can't really block and you have Trevor Lawrence and you know, I just am not confident you're getting it on 4th and 2 or 4th and 4. There's a bunch of teams like that with them. I like when they, the play that they didn't get it, that Gibbs like pitch out play, I didn't like the play. I like that they went for it. But just you have this huge offensive line, just run behind it and push forward. And it seems like teams always get into trouble when they try to get tricky, you know, and that way they try to out trick themselves a bunch of times in this game, which is why the packers were able to hang.

[Joe House]

Around the thing that you said in our text thread. I think early in the second half it did indeed feel like the lions could get 10 to 15 yards passing the football anytime they wanted it. And they ran really sharp plays in the red zone both times. Fourth down, those touchdowns that they got were really sharp play calls. Ben Johnson in his bag. BS.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. The Goff was 32 for 41 for 283. He had one bad pass, he stared the guy down through a pick. But they ran the ball. Montgomery and Gibbs were 29 for 94. I think what they were only 3.6 for Montgomery, 2.9 for Gibbs. But I think the reason they're trying to run the ball, I think they were Trying to shorten the game.

[Joe House]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

Because they didn't trust the defense. Right?

[Joe House]

Totally agree. Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

And so it just felt like I like when the Lions play with pace because they have so many weapons, but I guess they feel like they can't do that anymore because it's such a patchwork defense. But, you know, a lot of people, a lot of people writing online, people on pods have been making the same point that this whole conference feels like it's shifting toward Philly a little bit. You know, like, I heard Lombardi today talking about he really feels like Philly. They have the second best odds to win the nfc, but, you know, Philly's in a great spot, whether they're the one seed or the two seed. The way their defense is playing it. To me, the NFC feels way more wide open than it did a couple weeks ago, and it's because of the Detroit injuries. Their defense isn't the same.

[Joe House]

Right. Yeah. I mean, wide open means what I.

[Bill Simmons]

Three teams.

[Joe House]

Three teams. Okay, fair enough.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. But I thought there was a point about four weeks ago when it just seemed like Detroit was almost like, I'd bet anything they're gonna make the Super Bowl. This just seems like the dominant NFC team. I just love the way they were playing. Even after the Hutchinson injury, it still felt pretty great. So I'm fandel right now. They have the conference stuff. Detroit's plus 140. Phillies plus 250. And the packers are 8 to 1. Vikings are plus 950. And we're going to talk about them later on million dollar picks. But there's some pretty interesting defensive stats with them that are not encouraging. Other than that, I don't see anyone else. So it's those three in the nfc. But I feel like the Packers, I think they could go into Detroit and hang. Philly would be a little tougher because of the Philly defense.

[Joe House]

Well, and we need to know when.

[Bill Simmons]

J.R. alexander comes back is the other thing.

[Joe House]

That's right. That's going to be huge for Green Bay. Um, the. The Philly thing. The Philly advantage that they have is their own ability to. To just, you know, shrink the clock and run the ball, especially in the second half of these games now.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, they're good. It's interesting. Detroit has probably been on TV the most this year other than maybe KC Right. It's those two. But I feel like Detroit. I feel like I've seen almost all of their games.

[Joe House]

Well, sadly, we've seen way too much of the mother effing Jets. Well, I Mean, the jets, let's shoot them straight into the sun.

[Bill Simmons]

But that's my point. Usually, like, the NBA is in this situation now. They have just a shitload of Laker games left. They barely have any Cleveland games. They barely have any Oklahoma City games. And a lot of times, like the most televised teams, it turns out to be disappointing. I love watching Detroit.

[Joe House]

I really get it.

[Bill Simmons]

And I have. I have fantasy guys from them in different leagues, and I'm sure that's part of it. I have the one seed bet with them. I have their over all kinds of stuff, but I just think they're really entertaining offensively. Like, about as entertaining of an offense as we've seen in a while. And then the big thing that they added that they just didn't have in the first two months was this Tim Patrick, who I always thought was good on the Broncos. He got hurt and he was healthy in preseason, and I guess. I guess Peyton just liked other receivers. Let him go. And he's the third receiver that the Lions have kind of been dying for. Like, he had a couple really big catches today, but I think they just have playmakers everywhere.

[Joe House]

Everywhere.

[Bill Simmons]

I always feel like that packers didn't get that thing. Tied game, four minutes left, and it's like, fuck, you guys probably lost. I don't think you're stopping the Lions. I think they're going to get in a field goal range and win the game. Like, didn't you have that feeling?

[Joe House]

Yeah, of course. Yes. The only thing that put it into doubt at all was crazy Dan Campbell going for it on that fourth down.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I wonder. I mean, I wonder, like, the pie chart of that decision making where they didn't get it before. And I do think there's like, a attitude piece to when he's doing this for three years, right?

[Joe House]

No doubt. No doubt.

[Bill Simmons]

And it's like, if I go for it here and we get it, I kind of win our swagger back if I kick the field goal. Combined with us not getting it before our swaggers in, like a tiny bit of a question. And I, you know, he's just aggro. That's who he is.

[Joe House]

Yeah, it's true. And I do wonder. It can't be part of the affirmative calculation when he's sitting there making the decision. But there is got to be something in terms of the identity. Like, this is who we are. This is what we do.

[Bill Simmons]

We have to.

[Joe House]

We don't waver from it. We can't waiver from our identity. This is who we plow ahead we plow ahead. And it did have the desired outcome, which was not giving the Green Bay packers the football back.

[Bill Simmons]

The nerds didn't like it. It was like, I think 4% probability was better if they just kicked it for winning the game, which I was surprised by.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

But I liked it. I thought, I thought they were going to get it. I always judge this stuff by do I think they're going to get it. If I'm like, I was, you know, obviously root for the packers with the plus points and hoping that the Lions would kick the field goal and really worried that not only were they going to get it, but they were going to be the thing where they like break through and get the touchdown. And I don't know, just the whole thing made me nervous. So is that. Are the Lions still the best team to.

[Joe House]

Sure. Yes. Yes. I mean, we're going to see Kansas City this coming week and I feel like we're going to.

[Jesse Ventura]

We're.

[Joe House]

We're due for a Kansas City statement game and it might be this weekend. It might be this weekend.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, that's nice to move into million dollar picks because we had KC down as. As one of the possibilities. Casey, the Lions finally adjusted to back up what we've been watching week after week where they haven't been covering any of these games and they've been pulling wins out of their ass. And every week the Lions have been three to eight points too high for them.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And Fanduel and everybody else who makes Lions finally had enough of it and they made them three and a half point favorites at home against the Chargers on a Sunday night that don't have J.K. dobbins that McConkey's hurt and like we'll see tomorrow on Friday. Usually if the guy doesn't practice on Friday, it's usually a bad sign for playing.

[Joe House]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

He's been like their big play guy.

[Joe House]

Every 30, the only play guy.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. And I would have thought the line would be maybe six and a half.

[Joe House]

And I was going to say six.

[Bill Simmons]

All the odds are like, nope, we've had it with the Chiefs, it's six.

[Joe House]

Well, you know why the Chiefs are on a six game against the spread losing streak.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Joe House]

Incredible. For a team with their winning percentage. If you look at the history, there's some great numbers out there. Action Network team was doing it. Some incredible numbers about a team with their winning percentage being on a 0 and 6 against the spread streak.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. And even if you look at their last, their last five, their last six wins beat the Niners by 10. That turns out to be a congratulations. Vegas by seven, Tampa by six, Denver by two, Carolina by three, Vegas by two. They beat Vegas twice by nine points combined. And I think the odds makers have just had it and they're like you know what? So to me it's a huge gambling opportunity because I don't love the hook but it does allow us to use their money line and start combining it with stuff. But you know the big thing for me with the matchup is just I a not sure about the Chargers at all. Their best wins is I like them. I've enjoyed betting on them. I have them make the playoffs like they're better than a good bad team. I'm not sure they're a good team. Their best two wins were Denver by seven and Atlanta by four. Denver's the only team with a winning record they've beaten.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Casey's defense third against the run. Chargers don't have Dobbins. Their run game was non existent last week. Chiefs at home. Chiefs kind of need to make some sort of statement at some point before we get to January and this just feels like the week.

[Joe House]

I agree. I mean this is, you know the weakness for Kansas City has been their past defense since the cornerback Jalen Watson got hurt. That was against San Francisco. We've seen a lot of teams get into that secondary, that Kansas City secondary. But the Chargers are so one dimensional now. And look, all credit to coach Harbaugh. Amazing turnaround and they did exactly what they needed to do against stupid Atlanta which was just hang around, just be on the football field and let's the.

[Bill Simmons]

Kirk win it for them.

[Joe House]

Serve you up on a, on a Thanksgiving platter. Here you go guys. We've got some nice leftovers for you. How would you like to win this game? And Herbert and the Chargers accepted openly. But that's not the Chiefs. That's not the Chiefs at home. That's not the Chiefs only laying a little number like this. Patrick Mahomes with laying, you know, under 6 like this. Very good numbers. It's like in the 60 some percent range and they got extra rest right. They're coming off of that Friday all the way back around to a nice Sunday. I this is. This could be a chief smash spot but it could be a chief smash spot.

[Bill Simmons]

So do you like the minus three and a half or are you liking a money line with somebody else? Because there's a money line situation that I really like.

[Joe House]

I like it all. I'll just tell you. I like it all. I'm not afraid of any of it.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay, the hook scares me. Just because they the settling for field goal things. They do have Pacheco back.

[Joe House]

Tell me. Tell me how The Chargers score 20 points.

[Bill Simmons]

I know. Tell me how I know. I'm with you. Let's take a break and we'll talk about the rest of the games. Sometimes in basketball, 30 points could be worth more than 30 points. And now you can get a 30% profit boost with the Ringer with Fanduels 30 on 30 during Friday's NBA action. Yeah, the ringer teaming up with America's number one sportsbook to give you a 30% profit boost when you either pick a player to score more than 30 points or bet on our new exclusive 30 on 30 special markets. Like any game to have Both teams score 30 plus points in the first quarter. I thought it'd be fun. I talked FanDuel into it. I've been tweeting out my picks on Friday. I usually pick five guys, like two relatively close to even guys and then three longer shots. I've been doing really well in the picks. Last week I think I went 3 for 5 and I hit the long shot for the second straight week. So check out my picks on Friday. Look for 30 on 30 in the FanDuel Sportsbook app or head to Fando.com BS for your chance to score a bigger payout this Friday. Don't miss your chance to find out how much more 30 could be worth with FanDuel's 30 on 30 must be 21 + in present in select states or 18 + in present in DC. Opt in required bonus issued as non withdrawable profit boost tokens. Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See [e-mail] give them problem call 100 GAMBLER visit rg-help.com this episode is brought to you by SimpliSafe. When it comes to the safety of me and my family, there's only one home security system I trust and that's SimpliSafe. I love having it in my home. Helps protect every inch of it, inside and out. And if you want to try it for yourself right now, perfect time to get it. There's an amazing Black Friday sale going on for my listeners. I am talking 50% off here everybody. Also, reasons to have SimpliSafe holiday season's coming. Talk about this every year on the BS Pod. Guess what happens during holiday season? People start kind of casing your house a little bit on Wednesdays before Thanksgiving. Are they home did they go away? Oh wait, there's no cars in the driveway anymore. I'm moving in Christmas packages. Maybe they're going to try to steal those. Well, they won't if you have Simplisafe because you're going to be guarded against the porch pilots. Simplisafe helps to stop crime before it happens. Professional monitoring agents that can see, speak to and deter intruders. And if someone's lurking around or acting suspiciously, they can and will take action. So check out Simplisafe today. Keep your home, your family and your peace of mind protected. And remember, a massive Black Friday sale is being extended by Simplisafe for my listeners this week only. You can take off 50% off any new system with a select professional monitoring plan. It's your last chance to claim the best offer of the year. So don't wait. Head to simplisafe.com BS to claim your discount. Make sure your home is safe this season. Once again, SimpliSafe.com BS SimplySafe with two eyes SimpliSafe.com BS there's no safe like simply say so House on the Ringer gambling show today you were talking about a parlay and I was listening to it and I already had it written down and I texted it to the thread, the Sunday pregame thread before I heard you actually toss out the parlay and it was basically the torn Achilles parlay. It was take Minnesota against Atlanta and take Miami against the Jets. Short Cousins, short Rogers. This is, it's like I think plus 109, something like that.

[Joe House]

I mean both of those guys left legs are shorter so it makes sense.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. And I like the symmetry of it. And I, and I was like I would love to do that. I would love to bet against Kirk Cousins again and, and obviously Miami at home. I actually think Miami is a little undervalued now because the Packers Thursday night game threw everyone off the scent. But it was cold, cold weather Thursday night. What the fuck do you think was going to happen? They'd actually played well the weeks before that.

[Joe House]

So and let's be fair, the, the, the Dolphins offense was up to the challenge, right? The, the Dolphins defense would no part of tackling in that under those circumstances.

[Bill Simmons]

They didn't want to be there.

[Joe House]

They did not.

[Bill Simmons]

And then Atlanta's 9 and 19 in our last 28 against the spread worth mentioning. Atlanta's not good. No, they're they're six and six. They really could be three and nine two and ten a couple plays and I was like I'm Going to do Minnesota. This sounds great. And then I started looking at the Minnesota defensive stats which I mailed to you and they're a little alarming. And there's something I don't trust about this game. My shit detector's going off because it's really like the make or break game of the season for Atlanta. They're at an impasse with Cousins here it's Cousins going back to Minnesota. But I look at Minnesota, they give up 29 to Green Bay, 31 to Detroit, 27 to Chicago, 30 to the Rams. Last week Arizona had 406 yards and 25 first downs in them and really kind of choked the game away. They had the game, they're at three and six, they're in control. And I just don't trust Minnesota and make the counter with. Just try to do your Kirk Cousins counter and let's talk this out.

[Joe House]

Yeah. So what we've seen from him in virtually every game except for the games against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where virtually all of the yardage, all of the positive EPA for the Atlanta offense was generated from the enormous success that the Falcons offense had against Tampa in two games over the last three games. Kirk Cousins has this many I'm holding but giant zero touchdown passes and they were not against great defenses. It was against the Saints was one of those games. I mean I'll go back and well.

[Bill Simmons]

The Chargers have a good defense they.

[Joe House]

Had but it was a short week and a travel week for the Chargers and the Falcons had no problem moving the football up and down the field. They just got to the red zone and puked all over themselves. And Kirk Cousins especially, you know, short arming and short legging and not moving and playing out of pistol and the guy that is the offensive coordinator for Atlanta not covering himself in glory because we keep having this conversation about the Falcons not putting Kirk Cousins in a tenable position, a tenable situation. They have two incredible running backs. It doesn't matter. They try and set up play action. It doesn't matter. Cousin single handedly is taking wins away from this team and it's only going in one direction with him physically. One of the guys in our thread shared that next gen stat. Now I don't know how long Next gen has been around. Is it two years? Is it 20 years?

[Bill Simmons]

A mile an hour stat?

[Joe House]

Yes. No quarterback. No, there are no quarterbacks since Next gen has been measuring the velocity of passes that's had 20 at least 20 attempts and has not reached 37 miles an hour. And Kirk Cousins came along on Sunday and said hold my beer mother Effers. I'm right here. And you could see it. I mean they kept saying we watched that game.

[Bill Simmons]

He had no push out of his feet at all.

[Joe House]

No push.

[Bill Simmons]

Would you want next gen stats to measure your peas since like you were a teenager to now miles per hour. Can we Next gen stats and Lord no. I need my pee is down to 34 miles an hour.

[Joe House]

I don't want, I don't want anybody measuring my bathroom before any, any sort of streams. No.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, you compared Cousins to Joe Biden on the ringer. What if, what did you say?

[Joe House]

Well, only in the sense that like when you reach this point physically it only goes in one direction. That was the point I was trying to make. Like the case that people were trying to make over the summer. Oh, the Joe Biden, he can over.

[Bill Simmons]

He behind the scenes is the sharpest attack.

[Joe House]

There was no overcoming the thing because the thing was he's old and you can't. It only goes in one direction. Every day that goes by, you're one day older. That's where Cousins is right now. It's not that he's in a rough patch. It's not that he's working things out. He's not, you know, he doesn't have the yips. He's not physically able. He's literally physically unable to perform. And that's why going up against a Brian Flores blitz, heavy defense.

[Bill Simmons]

I know the defense hasn't been that good though. It's the blitz thing. I get it.

[Joe House]

The blitz. It's not the secondary that I'm interested in. It's the blitz.

[Bill Simmons]

So I think I'm, I, I, I see the case. I feel like I got so lucky last week on million dollar picks with the Chargers in that game where they just couldn't do anything and custom just single handed. They delivered the game to them.

[Joe House]

He did.

[Bill Simmons]

And I almost feel like I, I, I don't even want to play with House.

[Joe House]

Fine, fine, fine.

[Bill Simmons]

There's, there's another game I like with the I like to me the parlay is Miami and Kansas City.

[Joe House]

Fine. Great.

[Bill Simmons]

The Dolphins home against the Jets. Sauce gardener. We're taping this on a Thursday night. It's got a bad hamstring. So he's either going to be playing hurt or not playing either. Either scenario. Awful for the Jets. With the speed of the Dolphins breeze Hall is questionable for the 100 straight week. The jets are awful. They're one in five on Sundays. They're one in six on the road. They, no, they're one in either. One in eight on Sundays, one in six on the road. They have three starters out on their offensive line, their left tackle and their entire right side. Miami's defense, sneaky good. Ninth against the run, ninth against the pass.

[Joe House]

Improving. Improving.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. And you look at their. Their TUA losses, right? 2 of missed a bunch of games there, but the games they've lost with two, they lost to Buffalo twice. They lost to Green, Green Bay, that lost to Arizona. I don't think they're bad.

[Joe House]

Well, you know who likes playing against the Jets? Who? I'm ready to get in bed with two of these nuts. Yeah, two of these nuts love playing against the Jets. He's three and O straight up or whatever. The numbers are very good. And on top of that, they're home. And their offense is so much more comfortable. They're all of the precision stuff. The DJ is spinning his home Miami sound.

[Bill Simmons]

Mikey Mack.

[Joe House]

Yeah, he loves it. He loves spinning those Miami records. He loves the Miami sound.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, I think he's. I think he's breaking out some 45s for this game. Shout out to Lombardi. I think the DJ went into the attic and pulled some rare selections from the early 90s.

[Joe House]

Well, let me. Let me. No, no. I want to ask you some yacht rock. I mean, he really did.

[Bill Simmons]

Maybe he got inspired by the yacht rock Doc. Maybe he went and grabbed some doobies.

[Joe House]

Doesn't it look like he could be in the Doc? I'm. I mean, he definitely could. Missed opportunity.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. The jets line, I just don't see any. They seem like they're. If they're not the worst coach team in the league, they're one of the three or four worst coach teams in the league. They make penalties every week. Rogers clearly just can't wait for the season to be over. At this point, um, it's just a disaster. So it seems like a great.

[Joe House]

It's a great. It's a great. It's a great parlay leg. It's a great teaser leg. However you want to put Miami.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, Miami. Miami. Moneyline. KC Moneyline is plus 109.

[Joe House]

Great. Great. I'm in.

[Bill Simmons]

So we'll mark that one down, the next one. You knew this was coming. If you listen to this podcast, nothing I love more than a team that has fired their coach who the players were rebelling against, then playing the next week. I. It's not a hundred percent, but it feels like it's at least 80. We just hit this with the Saints, which we did not do. You talked me out of it. The fucking clogger came in, won a game outright. You talked me out of it. I've forgiven you. But. But this. This Bears, Niners.

[Joe House]

Well, it didn't happen for the Jets. The jets lost their first game.

[Bill Simmons]

No, but they remember that game, though. They. They kind of should have won and then they jetsed it up. But they did coach, right?

[Joe House]

Whatever his name.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, the Brick.

[Joe House]

Yeah, the Brick.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, Brick. Yeah. I. I've watched a few of these Bears games.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And they've had some lows. Right. They've had some games where they just look awful, but.

[Joe House]

Oh, I get your point.

[Bill Simmons]

They've also had some pretty good moments and stretches and halves. And I think they figured out something with Caleb the last couple of weeks with just having him get rid of the ball faster. Defense can create some pressure. I don't know. I just think. I think they could win this game. It feels like a three point game to me. The bigger thing is this is a zag against a Niners team that feels like the season is going in the wrong direction. Not just not making the playoffs, but just kind of edging toward. Hey, are we sure Kyle Shanahan should be the coach next year?

[Joe House]

Oh, you can't really do. Can we do that?

[Bill Simmons]

Niners fans, have you talked to. Yeah, that. In the Niners fans worlds, there's a lot of Kyle Shanahan consternation right now.

[Joe House]

I mean, they literally got, what, 2/3 of a legit game out of McCaffrey over 13 games?

[Bill Simmons]

I'm not saying it's rational. I'm just saying, I mean, you know.

[Joe House]

He'S literally the most important player in the league. Like, he's in the conversation for, you know, offensive player of the league every year that he's healthy. I don't know, takes that guy out of the mix. It seems like it, but.

[Bill Simmons]

And they lose iuk. Their defense isn't the same.

[Joe House]

No.

[Bill Simmons]

We see this in football every year with at least one team and sometimes two. The pedigree team that either just has way too many injuries or gets old and we just sit there for.

[Joe House]

We.

[Bill Simmons]

I went against the Niners in that packers game. Like, I've. I've had success going against them, betting against them, because I don't. I just. I just don't think they're good. And.

[Joe House]

Well, didn't Brandon Allen. I mean, that wasn't really going out on a limb with Brandon Allen.

[Bill Simmons]

I know, but the. But the lines didn't really reflect even that.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

And then it was like, I don't know. I just thought the way they were being measured. They're a past tense team to me is my point.

[Joe House]

Fine, fine, fine.

[Bill Simmons]

They're not a present tense team. They're not an arrow pointing up team. I think the Bears can beat them this week, and I love the new coach Bump.

[Joe House]

The only thing that I'm concerned with is like, when's the last time the Bears won a game on the road?

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Joe House]

It's been. It's been. That was one of the Abra flu's hallmarks. Like, oh, go find him on the road and load up against. Against the Bears. Cause they just don't.

[Bill Simmons]

The thing that worried me looking at the stats was just the Bears run defense has been bad. I think they're like 27th against the run.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

The Niners are obviously a good running team, but they're. They're down. Isaac Corendo.

[Joe House]

Yeah. Their third stringer. Right. The fantasy darling this week.

[Bill Simmons]

And Trent Williams is hurt. Might play, might not, right?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah.

[Joe House]

That was a for. For that Buffalo game. As soon as Williams was out, I was like, oh, I can't have enough Buffalo. Put all the. Both Buffalo on my plate. That was my Thanksgiving dessert.

[Bill Simmons]

So Bears plus three and a half or Bears in a tease or Bears adjusted or Bears money line. What hardens your nipples out of those?

[Joe House]

Well, it depends on what color Caleb's fingernails are. But starting from there, I'd like the Bears like in a tease. That's the only thing that makes me feel comfortable. I don't. Because the Niners had two diabolical situations in that Green Bay and Buffalo back to back. And I'm worried that there's like the basic operating function. Again, let's see if Trent Williams is playing. That'll be a determining factor. But out of all of the options you're giving me, the Bears with a tease leg is my favorite.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, so what if I gave you the Bears plus eight and a half?

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

In the Steelers money line against James and the Browns, which is minus 110 on FanDuel.

[Joe House]

There we're. Now we're talking. That's a good one.

[Bill Simmons]

And that's our bet.

[Joe House]

Love that one. Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

So Steelers game. Cleveland has the really tough, exciting game in Denver in altitude on Monday night. Playing six days later against Pittsburgh in the Denver game. So my buddy Gus Ramsey, huge Denver fan, and he was telling me the D back that was out was going to have a dramatic effect on the game because the guy that was going in for him.

[Joe House]

Oh, yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Could not cover anybody. And he's like, I'm a little nervous about Jamis in this game because we have this guy that I think. And guess what? That guy gave up, like 200 yards. But so I think that's made people think the Browns are a little more explosive than maybe they actually are. So you sent me some Brown stats. The Browns have lost 20 consecutive regular season games in Pittsburgh. Their Last win was October 2003 with Tim Couch.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

I had been living in LA for less than a year when that happened.

[Joe House]

Shut up. Shout out.

[Bill Simmons]

Abrams. In Mike Tomlin's career with the Steelers, no opposing QB has gone 20 against the spread against him in the same season.

[Joe House]

Straight up against him.

[Bill Simmons]

Straight up against him. Yeah, straight up.

[Joe House]

Straight up.

[Bill Simmons]

So Jameis beat him, beat them in that fluky, stupid Thursday snow game.

[Joe House]

Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Which had all the makings of a stay away. And then it turned out it was. And I continue to think the Steelers team's a little undervalued. I actually think this line should be higher than six and a half, but I'm delighted that the money line is only minus 3 10. And I feel like this is a gift from the gods and we have to put it in somewhere.

[Joe House]

Yeah, I like that a lot. I like the money line just fine. Over history in these division games, when Pittsburgh has been favored around 6 in that neighborhood, it doesn't, you know, the underdog division opponent tends to cover, and that's been, you know, sort of the Tomlin thing. You grab Tomlin and the Steelers when they are underdogs, and you fade them against the spread when they're faves. But this is a situation where we're just looking for the Steelers to win. I don't want to mess around with the points. I mean, the, the, the, the ceiling and the floor with Jamis are. It's like, you know, Mount Everest, you know, the variance there. So let's just go ahead and pick the Steelers to win, have that be a leg, and then that. Then we can move on with our lives.

[Bill Simmons]

So, Steelers, you could tease them with the over of 37 and a half, which I wanted to discuss quickly, even though it's December, a little colder, but the fact that the Browns will not be able to run the ball at all. And Nick Chubb, I love Nick Chubb, but it really feels like maybe he should have sat this year out. But they're not going to be able to run the ball, which means they're going to throw it a lot, which means the ball is going to be in play all over the place. Raheem had an incredible stat today on the, on the gambling show that James actually broke the passing yards record. If you include the 190. Whatever interception yards that he had with his own yards, he was like 600 yards.

[Joe House]

680. Yeah. Nearly 680 combined receiving yards.

[Bill Simmons]

But Raheem said that every interception is like, has a five point impact on the spread.

[Joe House]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

James is good for probably two interceptions in this game. I don't know, it just seems like 37 and a half. Lowering that with the Steelers like as a tease, that's another way to go. And then, then we're not relying on the Bears. We like the Steelers that much.

[Joe House]

Yeah, I mean we're. It's a danger zone when you start messing with the points in these AFC north games, especially in December. We recognize the risk. But if the weather doesn't look like it has high chance of precipitation, it looks like it's just going to be 40 degrees cloudy. Ish. The wind doesn't look insane. So those are still. Because we, we, we think that with Arthur Smith, you know, it's a miracle they get rid of that bum Met Canada and all of a sudden they have four games where with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson all of a sudden Pittsburgh can, can get gained 400 yards on offense. All again, it's a, it's a goddamn magic act. Kudos to Arthur Smith for, you know, getting his bag cooking up some offense. It's fun to watch. And is Art. Did Arthur Smith or did he revitalize Russell Wilson's career?

[Bill Simmons]

Because there's a whole case with Arthur Smith.

[Joe House]

Russell's cooking.

[Bill Simmons]

Wait, you could look at Arthur Smith and just be like who was the quarterback that he had to work with? Everybody he had as a quarterback in the Falcons is not a starting quarterback in the NFL. I mean Ritter played a couple of weeks because three guys got hurt. But you know, maybe he was a good coach just in a bad situation. I don't know what to think. But he's completely reinvigorated Pittsburgh. There's another scenario I'm just going to throw at you since it seems like we like the Pittsburgh money line, the KC money line and Miami money line the most. Yeah, you put those three together. That's +177 on FanDuel.

[Joe House]

So I wouldn't do a full, you know, allocation like, like you like to do. I wouldn't do a full 200,000 on that one. But I mean that's worth 100 grand. That's worth 50 grand. Sneeling, you know, one and three quarters to one. We like that.

[Bill Simmons]

Minnesota, yes or no?

[Joe House]

I mean, I'm all in on it. It's a smash for me. I love Minnesota. I think they're going to kick the living crap out of Atlanta. There's all kinds of numbers that about Kirk. Indoors, he stinks. Indoors, he's been playing. He had all those years in Minnesota, but he's not. He hasn't been good. I mean there's a lot of angles if you want to fade Atlanta, but the biggest one is it's one legged cousins.

[Bill Simmons]

I really do like the symmetry of the cousins with Rogers Parlay.

[Joe House]

Fade the frauds.

[Bill Simmons]

So would you put Steelers with Minnesota or the Bears?

[Joe House]

Definitely Minnesota.

[Bill Simmons]

Cause I mean, so you know what? I'm gonna put Steelers with Minnesota and then if Minnesota blows it, it's my fault. I just get to blame you and call you a motherfucker.

[Joe House]

You can mother.

[Bill Simmons]

Send you nasty texts. You can send you that. Send you that picture where you click. You think it's a news link, but it's that guy sitting on the toilet with the huge dong. We do that to you.

[Joe House]

The pee stream. Send me some peace. Stream some next.

[Bill Simmons]

Send me some peace. So we do Steelers bikes. We're already up 200k this weekend, so Steelers bikes. And I'm going to just do the Bears plus three and a half against the Niners because I think they can win that one.

[Joe House]

All right, it's your money.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, let's do it. Million dollar picks, week 14. We're already up $200,000 thanks to the packers covering four and a half. And Jordan love throwing for 200 plus yards. Won $870,000 last week. House.

[Joe House]

It's a good one.

[Bill Simmons]

Good one for the season. We are now $1.413 million. Go back and fucking fact check it because that's the number, baby. Here we go. Million dollar picks. The rest of them because we're already up 200k. Miami Dolphins going against Aaron Rodgers, who we can see on Netflix on December 17th in Enigma, which I'll be watching as I pour salt in my eyes.

[Joe House]

I was going to say, which I won't be watching.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm going to watch it as I drip Tabasco sauce like it's contact lens solution into my eyeballs.

[Joe House]

Well, Tabasco means it always makes me think of Gil Bang. But if we're going to watch, I'm.

[Bill Simmons]

A Gil Bang myself.

[Joe House]

If we're going to watch, then I think I'm going to get next gen to watch. I'll be watching with my peace Dream.

[Bill Simmons]

Miami Money line against the jets with the Kansas City Chiefs. Money line against the Chargers. We cannot figure out how the Chargers are going to score even 14 points in this game, especially if McCocky doesn't play.

[Joe House]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

So Miami, KC moneyline. That is plus 109 house. We're having a good run right now. I'm going to get a little freaky.

[Joe House]

Let me hear it.

[Bill Simmons]

We're putting 250k on that.

[Joe House]

Bang, bang. Speaking of Gil Bang.

[Bill Simmons]

We're Gil banging that up to 250k. Bears + 3 1/2 in San Francisco. New coach theory. The Eberfleuse thing was so bad that there were reports of. He started to speak to the team after the game and Jalen Johnson, their star cornerback, just interrupted him and started screaming at him that he doesn't understand why the coaching keeps the blah, blah, blah. It sounded awful.

[Joe House]

I feel bad. Listen, I think he's like a decent enough dude and I also.

[Bill Simmons]

He's a good defensive quarter.

[Joe House]

He will be. He will be. He just had no business being in that job. Like the whole world knew it. We were making the jokes of the effing summer about the Bears. You have this prized possession, the number one draft pick. Don't F it up. And they put this dunce in charge and he runs it right to the ground. And they wasted a year of this kid's career in his development. Now here's the redemption story.

[Bill Simmons]

But they could have gotten Mike Vrabel. They could have gotten Jim Harvey. Maybe they were real guys to get.

[Joe House]

They couldn't talk to Belichick. They couldn't talk to him. They couldn't have a conversation with the man.

[Bill Simmons]

Same thing with Salah and the Jets.

[Joe House]

But here's the reduction.

[Bill Simmons]

You see these teams hold on to the coach for the extra year when we already know the jig is up.

[Joe House]

Doofy. Doofus.

[Bill Simmons]

Open redemption story.

[Joe House]

Thomas Brown, your guy, the new head coach this week. This is when it starts. We've seen the green sprouts shooting up of Caleb, you know, getting rid of the ball quickly. That offense gets cooking.

[Bill Simmons]

A little team like him, DJ Moore.

[Joe House]

Is alive for fantasy football playoff time.

[Bill Simmons]

I know. Yeah. So Bears plus three and a half. New coach theory. It's almost a blind for me at this point. You talked me out of it with the Clogger and the Saints. I resented you for it. We're doing it here. And also a chance to short the Niners because to really have a season from hell, you gotta keep losing in December. Like they. They haven't clinched season for us that you still have to have a couple more losses, so we're gonna do that. And then last but not least, we love the Steelers at home against the Browns. Just like Jameis coming off Monday night like I. Yeah, he's not beating Tomlin twice in the same season. Steelers need the game.

[Joe House]

Yeah, they really need the game.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, man. Oh, we got caught by a surprise. We relax like they. They need every game. They're trying to win their division and get either the two seed or three seed.

[Joe House]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

So we're throwing the Steelers in with the Vikings, which you insisted on because they're going against Kirk Cousins.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Who basically died last week and turned into a chalk outline that resembled John Justremski watching the Miami Dolphins playoff game in my house.

[Joe House]

Well, I think he died like a month ago, but we finally caught on.

[Bill Simmons]

We finally realized. Yeah, I'm just on the record as saying my shit detector was going off with this game. It seems too easy. The Minnesota defense, I think, is a little overrated.

[Jesse Ventura]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

But you talked me into it. Steelers. Vikings. It's minus 119 on FanDuel. Just that has to win and we take it. We're putting 200k in that. We're putting 200k on the Bears plus three and a half as well. And then you know what else? Just for fun, just for shits and giggles, let's hear it. Little 50k extra. Plus 177. Steelers, Miami, KC all to win. Little extra.

[Joe House]

We do like it.

[Bill Simmons]

Little sprinkling.

[Joe House]

Who Fs usually. Let's play who Fs Us on that one?

[Bill Simmons]

Not KC. Miami's the always worries me just.

[Joe House]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

That's.

[Joe House]

That is the answer.

[Bill Simmons]

The disc jockey. And it's true. Tua taking a hit. Who knows?

[Joe House]

One last hurrah.

[Bill Simmons]

Anyway, those are the million dollar picks for week 14. We're gonna take one more break and then House and I are gonna talk NBA really quick. This episode is brought to you by Old El Paso.

[Joe House]

Does gameday hosting feel like an extreme sport?

[Bill Simmons]

Not anymore. With Old El Paso, feeding your hungry crowd is oh so easy. Old El Paso's crunchy stand in stuffed shells, bold seasonings and squeezable sauces are fumble free, flavor packed and perfect for cheering on your team. Football season is taco season with Old El Paso.

[Joe House]

Level up your next tailgater.

[Bill Simmons]

Watch party Shop gameday [e-mail] this episode is brought to you by State Farm. State Farm helps you score an affordable price when you choose to bundle home and auto insurance with the personal price plan. Bundling home and auto. That's a pro move. Just another way you can save on your insurance needs. Talk to a State Farm agent today to learn how you can bundle and save with the personal price plan. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there Prices are based on rating plans that vary by state Farm. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings and eligibility vary by state house. Quick basketball stuff. I was in Denver for a couple of days with Priscilla. We did a great live show. Super fun. Gambling is legal in in Denver. I can actually get FanDuel in Denver and I could make some fun bets which I did including Jordan Love 200 plus yards with the four and a.

[Joe House]

Half which I'm cashing. Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

But there were some future bets and it got me looking at some of the over under stuff and the make the playoff stuff for the NBA. What do you think the Atlanta Hawks regular season win total is Right now on FanDuel. The Hawks are 12 and 11. They've won five straight.

[Joe House]

43. I didn't look. I haven't looked at it.

[Bill Simmons]

It's 38 and a half house.

[Joe House]

Wow.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Yes.

[Joe House]

They have a bunch of high quality wins over the last 10 days and we loaded way the F up on them getting to like 41 or 42 games and I have been. I felt very validated. You know who's playing really effing good and was a key component of the handicap for why Atlanta could be capable of turning the page. DeAndre Hunter. Can that dude please stay on the floor. Keep DeAndre Hunter healthy. Make sure he's getting his vitamins, getting his sleep because he, you know, the Dyson Daniels thing cannot be under understated or underrated. The addition of like a proper defense.

[Bill Simmons]

Can I just tell you I did stop.

[Joe House]

I love Atlanta.

[Bill Simmons]

I did Ringer 100 and I had Dyson Daniels ahead of Dejounte Murray in the ring 100 and he was like 10 to 15 spots ahead.

[Joe House]

So it's your. So so Atlanta won that trade by.

[Bill Simmons]

Atlanta won that trade if it was.

[Joe House]

Getting ripped a shot.

[Bill Simmons]

They also got Larry Nance and two first round picks.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. So the Atlanta thing I was just startled by. So of course I had to bet it. And then I was like well I might as well throw some other over unders in there.

[Joe House]

Might as well.

[Bill Simmons]

So I did two different bets. What do you think Oklahoma Cities over under was heading into tonight.

[Joe House]

Oh, this is fun.

[Bill Simmons]

They won tonight.

[Joe House]

I haven't looked. They won tonight. I think it made them 17 and 5. Let me guess. I'm going to say 58.

[Bill Simmons]

So it's 57 and a half. I threw that in.

[Joe House]

Okay. Okay. I did pretty good.

[Bill Simmons]

And what do you think the Houston Rockets who were playing as we tape, what do you think their over under was amazing.

[Joe House]

I did we all three of us lock the Houston Rockets over?

[Bill Simmons]

No, you guys did. I didn't.

[Joe House]

I bet the rockets are now 46 and a half.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, they were 42 and a half when we did it. You and Rosella locked it. It was now 50 and a half on Finland.

[Joe House]

Holy moly.

[Bill Simmons]

I know. And you guess what else? I bet it anyway. So I did Atlanta OKC in Houston plus 581 for the overs on that.

[Joe House]

Bang, bang.

[Bill Simmons]

Then the other one. I did. I did those three. What do you think? Dallas's over under was. They won tonight. And by the way, Dallas has been sneaky contendery for the last two weeks. They have rounded into shape.

[Joe House]

They were one of my locks in the preseason. And their number was like in the 49 and a half. They weren't even a 50. I bet they're 50 now. I bet they're 50 now.

[Bill Simmons]

You did not have them as a lock, but you did have them. But we. Yeah, they were.

[Joe House]

I think they were 49 and a half in the preseason.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, they're 50 and a half and they're 51 and a half now. So I put that in there.

[Joe House]

Fine.

[Bill Simmons]

And then I had to. The Lakers. What do you think the Lakers are right now?

[Joe House]

It's got to be close to what the preseason was. Are they like 43?

[Bill Simmons]

44 and a half.

[Joe House]

Okay, so the gay a game and a half.

[Bill Simmons]

So before the year, they're 42 and a half.

[Joe House]

Oh, okay.

[Bill Simmons]

So 44 and a half. That was the number.

[Joe House]

That's great.

[Bill Simmons]

Those five together. Atlanta over, OKC over Houston over. Lakers under. Dallas over. Was over 22 to 1 on FanDuel.

[Joe House]

You need to tweet that out.

[Bill Simmons]

$100 on that.

[Joe House]

You need to tweet that out.

[Bill Simmons]

That's like so happy.

[Joe House]

Go get it.

[Bill Simmons]

So the Lakers would have to go 45 and 37 to beat that. And they cannot guard anybody.

[Joe House]

No.

[Bill Simmons]

Other than your Wizards. So here's another one. I didn't bet this because I couldn't decide whether it was a good line or not. What do you think the Wizards over under was heading into the game today, which they got killed in.

[Joe House]

Oh, amazing. 14 and a half.

[Bill Simmons]

That's what it was.

[Joe House]

Hey, hey. I didn't even look 14. I swear I didn't look.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, well, you didn't look at any of these.

[Joe House]

No, I didn't.

[Bill Simmons]

They keep telling us, we believe you. 14 and a half. And my initial instinct was, that's way too high. And then I was like, man, if you win less than 14 half games, that's becoming one of the more unsuccessful seasons in the history of the league. So I. In the history of the league, I stayed away. The Celtics were like 62 and a half, which I was surprised by. So here's the other thing I did they have make the playoff bets. And I was frantically doing this on the plane before the plane took off. I'm just going to ask you if these teams will make the playoffs and you can tell me yes or no. Dallas Mavericks.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Houston Rockets.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Denver Nuggets.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, you paused the same way I did, but yes. So Denver's number was -400 to make the playoffs.

[Joe House]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

Minnesota Timberwolves.

[Joe House]

Yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Phoenix Suns.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay. So I thought those five would make it as well.

[Joe House]

Memphis Grizzlies, awesome story. I honestly think they are going to make the playoffs. Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

So my thinking was those were the six teams other than okc. So okc and those six in the west. And I don't know who's getting the eighth spot. You could tell me it's Golden State. You know, like, what you can tell.

[Joe House]

Me is not dead.

[Bill Simmons]

Those six with Atlanta, what do you think Atlanta's playoff odds were? Atlanta to make the playoffs, like, decent.

[Joe House]

They're going to make. I think they're going to make the playoffs.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Plus 106.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

So all of those together was over six to one.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

And I was trying to figure out who fucks that up. Dallas, Houston, Denver, Minnesota, Phoenix, Atlanta, or Memphis. Like the odds would say Atlanta.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

And yet if you watch Atlanta, I don't know how they're not going to be a 7 or an 8 seed in the East. They can play defense. They try hard every night now. I think the coach likes the team they trade. They're getting a better version of him than they've had before.

[Joe House]

They kind of got all their injuries. I'm knock on wood for them because, you know, we're rooting for them. We're invested in them. We feel like they owe us because we did this last season.

[Bill Simmons]

They were the. They were the fuck job team for it. We would have had like a legendary year last year with the Overrunners and they completely fucked us.

[Joe House]

Yeah. But I want to knock on Wood and say they got most of their injury stuff out of the way at the beginning of the season, hopefully. Because look, the two wins that the Washington Wizards have back to back wins against the Atlanta Hawks, right? Amazing, right? Only two wins.

[Bill Simmons]

And if Atlanta wins those, they're like 14 and nine right now. Right. But I was looking at the game yesterday, it's like kind of the perfect box score where Capel has 17 rebounds, Daniel has. Daniels has six assists, three steals, Reese sachet hits a couple threes, Trae Young's terrible, he's 6 for 19, and Jaylen Johnson has a 23, 13 and 5. And they beat Milwaukee by 15 points. When Trae doesn't even play well, to me, that means they're a playoff team.

[Joe House]

And on top of that, you know, I, when I clicked into that game and saw early on that the Hawks were off a little bit, up by a little bit, it's like, oh, is Giannis not playing? Oh, Giannis was playing. Because Milwaukee is like the poor man's Denver this year. To me, they're only competitive if their super duper star is having an extraterrestrial performance. Another triple double, by the way, for, for the joker tonight with 20 effing rebounds. But they're not competitive at all in the game. Cleveland just dog walks them the whole, the whole game.

[Bill Simmons]

You know, I, I almost bet that when I was in Denver and I just don't like betting. I just don't like betting. Against Jokic, I was.

[Joe House]

But it's why you took the Denver over in the preseason.

[Bill Simmons]

But it was one of those things where it's like, this seems like a horrible matchup for them. Cleveland's just like way better. Terrible matchup for the team. Murray. I watched some of that game. I had that on the small TV as I was watching the football game. Murray just isn't going by guys anymore. And I noticed it in person. Priscilla and I talked about our Denver pod, but he's getting like, he has the guy in his side, but he's not like getting the half step over them. The guy's just next to him and he can't ever really get to where he wants to go. And I think it's a massive, massive, massive concern. I'm very worried about them. House.

[Joe House]

I understand.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. So Atlanta in the playoffs, if you're just looking standings wise, you figure Cleveland, Boston, Orlando, New York and Milwaukee are locks to make the playoffs. I think those are the only five. Atlanta's the six seed right now, Miami's seventh. Brooklyn's going to Start making trades soon because they don't want to be good. Chicago's kind of frisky and might not. There's a field story. They had a big win tonight.

[Joe House]

The play in Bulls. They can't wait to be in the.

[Bill Simmons]

910 game and Indiana has lost four in a row. They're 9 and 14 and they might have the worst body language of any Eastern Conference team.

[Joe House]

They're the one. What happened? What happened to the Pacers?

[Bill Simmons]

So I've asked around a little and I've also watched them and I think Seokham's a really good player.

[Joe House]

Yep.

[Bill Simmons]

And I'm not sure he fits in with how they played last year when we liked watching them so much.

[Joe House]

Interesting.

[Bill Simmons]

Those first two months when Hal Burton was great and they're flying up and down, flying, flying. And then this year you put Siakam in there, you bring Matheran back, who I think is a little Alpha E. And they just seem like more of a normal basketball team than the team that we watched last year. That was balls to the wall. And they don't seem that happy to me. So to me, they're east coast Minnesota, where the roster shifted in Minnesota in a more obvious way. But they don't have the same kind of thing that made them special last year.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

For Indiana, it was that pace. And I don't see the same pace this year, do you?

[Joe House]

No. I haven't sat down and done any deep looks at the Pacers. I just keep looking at the outcomes of games and the box scores and trying to make sense out of why they're not. They're not competitive in these games. They're like getting blasted.

[Bill Simmons]

No. And then. And you know, it's the classic year after syndrome, too. Right.

[Joe House]

Where is Halliburton? Is there some kind of hangover from the Olympics? He didn't play in the Olympics, so it shouldn't have affected him.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, how about this? How many. How many points a game do you think they averaged this year? Last year, remember, they were in like the 120s. They were like 123. Some crazy number.

[Joe House]

It's like 108, 109. I don't know. I don't have it in front of me.

[Bill Simmons]

Last year they were 123.3.

[Joe House]

Yeah. What are they now?

[Bill Simmons]

This year they're 113.4.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

They've lost 10 points a game.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

And yet they have Matheran and they have Siakam for a full season. So that doesn't make sense. But it does make Sense. If you watch them, they're not. They don't play with the same pace. And I. To me, they are the most. I think the most likely trade team in either conference right now is Indiana.

[Joe House]

Makes a ton of sense because they get like.

[Bill Simmons]

People are like Chicago, they want, but if you watch Chicago, they actually seem like they like playing with each other and they have like a specific identity. Indiana doesn't know what they are right now.

[Joe House]

That is the issue. Right. Like, they. Their identity. They have to outscore teams because they don't. They still don't defend. I mean, I got sat down and look at the advanced numbers.

[Bill Simmons]

They're almost five for the season. They're giving up 118.2 and they're scoring 113.4. So this is. But this brings me to my Atlanta point. I just think Atlanta took their spot and I don't really see a path for Indiana unless there's some trade that they have come up. But they just signed Siakamu a huge deal.

[Joe House]

Right?

[Bill Simmons]

Right. If you look at their. Miles Turner is going to be a free agent at the end of the year. If you look at their assets, they have. They have Walker, the kid they took in the lottery two years ago. That doesn't. Hasn't really had an impact for them. You look at their assets. I don't know. They already traded a couple of picks for Siakam.

[Joe House]

I mean, on the other hand, Matheran's good. I think they have some good, but.

[Bill Simmons]

I think he's the trade piece.

[Joe House]

Yeah. Which one? Nemhard or Matt Matheran?

[Bill Simmons]

I think Matheran is the trade piece.

[Joe House]

Okay. He's good. I mean, that's a good. That should fetch something.

[Bill Simmons]

One of the things that hurt with them is how many games does Neesmith miss now? Yeah, he's only played six and I think that's one of the reasons their defense has gone backwards.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

But anyway, the likely trade teams for me, Indiana, no question. I'll be really interested to see what happens with Minnesota and Randle and whether there's even a market for him. I went through all the teams, like anyone interested in Julius Randle for 33 and. Or 36, whatever he makes. It gets really hard. It's hard to find takers. You end up, like, staring at, like the Charlotte type of teams. But all those teams are trying to tank now.

[Joe House]

Yeah. It doesn't make sense. I'm surprised. Why aren't we talking about the Pelicans? The Pelicans? Isn't everybody available on the Pelicans?

[Bill Simmons]

I guess but who. Ingram's an expiring. What are you getting for him? They just signed McCollum. He's making over 30 a year. Like is that. Is. Are people looking for all offense guards who can't guard anybody making 30 plus a year?

[Joe House]

That's a ooze.

[Bill Simmons]

Probably not. I like McCollum.

[Joe House]

But is the right thing to do for them to just suck and get the very best?

[Bill Simmons]

I think that's. Well, they beat Phoenix tonight. I had that game on. I don't know what they were thinking.

[Joe House]

Damn it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, they broke their win streak. The Zion thing is the most interesting story in sport. I mean, New Orleans is in a weird spot because they don't really have anybody covering the team. They're. They're the kind of this anonymous NBA team. They're playing a super small market. They don't even have like, I don't even know who. If there was stuff going on in New Orleans, I don't even really know how we'd find out. Adam and Zion's coming back. They showed him on the bench today. It was. He was wearing like one of those jogging suits where it was hard to tell if he had put on 50 pounds or not.

[Joe House]

I know it's true.

[Bill Simmons]

Just signed Trey Murphy. They can't trade him. They have a Hawkins, I would say has some trade assets. So, yeah, you're right. New Orleans is in there. But to me, Indiana, that's the one I'm watching short term because I think they have pieces. There's moves and I want to see if they do something. And then the other one who I saw in person, Russell and I really talk about in the Denver show. But Golden State, now, they didn't have Draymond. Draymond solves a lot of second ball handler stuff with them creating shots for people without him. Curry's really their only shot creator. They felt like a three for one team for me as I was watching them. They desperately need. They have all these guys who are all fine and none of them can create a shot. So when Denver just took out Curry in the last five minutes, Jokic is calling out every warriors play and they just didn't have that second guy who's like, I got this. Let me. Let me get a couple buckets. Even somebody like Mauren would be a huge help for them.

[Joe House]

Interesting.

[Bill Simmons]

So I left the game thinking I actually wouldn't be opposed to them trading for Zach Levine.

[Joe House]

Okay.

[Bill Simmons]

And I don't know with this how the apron. I don't even know how trades work anymore, whether it's even conceivable and doesn't have to match exactly, but that's the type of guy they need. And Curry being 36, I just don't think you can waste the window anymore. Otherwise just say, you know what we are, who we are and that's it.

[Joe House]

But I felt that way the last two years. I felt that way with this team. They just can't get them help. They just keep saying we're going to, you know, we're going to roll the ball back out there with the guys that we got. And they just got worse. I mean really, they never recovered from Draymond punching Jordan Poole in the face.

[Bill Simmons]

They didn't.

[Joe House]

A sentiment I kind of understand now. But you know, the. It's been two seasons, two full seasons and we got excited at the beginning.

[Bill Simmons]

Of this season, but they won, they won in 22. So I don't. It's. You're right, don't shed tears for the warriors. But.

[Joe House]

No, I'm not saying it right, but.

[Bill Simmons]

I think the burden that they have on Curry now at the age that he's at is unrealistic and I think they know it.

[Joe House]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

And I was watching last night, I was watching how hard he has to run around and get open and do all the Curry stuff that he's been doing forever, but now he's doing it as a 36 year old and I don't know. Basketball is really hard to play. Did you see that? There was that thing that came out about, about people running during basketball games and the amount of. The amount of miles you run during a year. Somebody tried to do a study on it to try to figure out and basically took all the three point shots and the pace of the game and figured out some formula to compare it to like the 80s, the 90s, and it's just like there's way more running and sprinting now is basically the theory and it backed up what I've thought this as I go to the games, it just feels like it's harder to play. It just feels like you're constantly on the move, sprinting, doing rush outs, flying around and I don't know, I just think it's realistic.

[Joe House]

Much more impactful mileage now.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, because my biggest regret of our over unders was the Phoenix one because I think we gave KD's health too much credit because he played so many games last year and he's a guy who's been in the league since the 2007 draft and like he's hurt again. He's been hurt twice already this year, you know, and for what? We were laying for that bet, which was. What was the over. It was like 48 and a half something.

[Joe House]

Yeah, it was in the. In the high 40s. Might have been 47 and a half, though.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, 47 and a half. And all three of us did a lot.

[Joe House]

I don't regret it. I don't regret it. Not yet.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll regret it if. If. If he can't play. Yeah. Right now they're 12 and 9. We're gonna be sweating that one out.

[Joe House]

We are gonna be sweating that one.

[Bill Simmons]

Cause it's like one more injury, and they look pretty ordinary when he's out there anyway, so. And then Lakers. I don't. Lakers will do some sort of panic trade. I just don't know what it is. I think if they're actually trying to be competitive this year, they know that you can't play LeBron, who's, by metrics, like, one of the five worst defensive players in the league. Now, with Reeves, with Connect and with dlo, you can't have those four guys on the basketball court at the same time unless you're trying to play a game that's like 145 to 143. So my guess is Reeves would be the trade guy.

[Joe House]

Ooh, wow.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. Because his contract, and he put it with something else, maybe.

[Joe House]

It's an amazing contract.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Joe House]

They still have that first round pick in 29, which is, like, super valuable.

[Bill Simmons]

Would you trade Reeves?

[Joe House]

Yes, definitely.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm trying to see what his new.

[Joe House]

You have to have the right guy, but, I mean, he's like 15 million bucks a year.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, he is great.

[Joe House]

Great price.

[Bill Simmons]

12.9, 13.9, 14.8.

[Joe House]

That's a great contract.

[Bill Simmons]

Russell's 18.6 expiring, so already that gets you over 30. Rui with 17 gets you to, like, the high 40s. Right. So now you could. If you really wanted to make a run at an expensive guy, you could. But I'm sure Ainge is just waiting. He's just waiting for them to panic.

[Joe House]

Ainge? Why? What's Ainge got?

[Bill Simmons]

Cause Ainge has all those pieces. He's got John Collins at 26.5. He's got Sexton at 18.3, Jordan Clarkson at 14, and he's got, most importantly, Kessler at 3.

[Joe House]

The Lakers are not taking any of those dudes.

[Bill Simmons]

That is Sexton and Kessler. Sexton and Kessler would help them.

[Joe House]

They would. They would genuinely help them. But, like.

[Bill Simmons]

And they have the Lakers Talk for Utah. That's like the best currency you could have. The Lakers, they're going to be like dangling Austin Reeves. They're like, hey, Utah, look, the guy.

[Joe House]

That I here, the guy that I would think that the Lakers would like, have circled, Jimmy Butler. That's who I would think that, you know, they would be going in that direction, right? They're not. They're not. And then we're not. We're not going for Walker. That's fucking Kessler. We're going to go get a big super duper big dong star. That's a tough guy. And he's. He's already on the banana boat. And that's it. He's our dude. Something like Jimmy Butler.

[Bill Simmons]

I like the way you're thinking, House. Let me look at this for a second. So that would be Reeves. That would have to be basically Reeves, Russell and Rui.

[Joe House]

Bye, bye. Enjoy. And by the way, all those guys would be like, Miami. Yes, we're in.

[Bill Simmons]

Kyle, turn the TikTok camera on. Here's what I actually think the Lakers should do. I would trade Davis and cash in on him. What's he worth?

[Joe House]

Wow. Embiid. Embiid for Davis.

[Bill Simmons]

Honestly, what would Davis be worth?

[Joe House]

Every, like, everything. Like, who can come up with enough.

[Bill Simmons]

Let's say he was in play for the Rockets. Would they have to think about that?

[Joe House]

Of course they'd have to think about it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, of course.

[Joe House]

Of course. What kind of question is that? Yes, yes, yes. A million yeses.

[Bill Simmons]

I just don't think the Lakers are.

[Joe House]

Not trading Anthony Davis.

[Bill Simmons]

If the goal is to win a title over the next four years, the.

[Joe House]

Goal is to win the title this year or next.

[Bill Simmons]

They have no chance.

[Joe House]

I agree.

[Bill Simmons]

Zero chance. No chance. None of winning the title. No chance. Zero. There is no way.

[Joe House]

There's a guy. They need a guy.

[Bill Simmons]

They need a time machine is what they do.

[Joe House]

Need a time machine. Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

Look, it's amazing that LeBron is still playing and that he can score 29 points in a game in his 22nd year in the league. They're not winning a title with him. They're not winning a title with the team they have. And they can't play defense and they know it.

[Joe House]

No argument.

[Bill Simmons]

They're 31, as healthy as he's ever been, making a ton of money.

[Joe House]

They made themselves. They became a three point shooting team. Except for they can't shoot threes. I'm going to hold on to that clip that I sent you. That's going to be my part of my. Where LeBron misses the entire rim. He misses so badly that the announcer's like, wide left. That didn't even. Oh, my. Wide left.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, that would be. Indiana is my number one trade team now. Anyway, that's it. That's my little basketball report for you. Who would you bet right now for the finals if you had to make a bet?

[Joe House]

Oklahoma City and Boston.

[Bill Simmons]

It's funny, I don't think that's changed and yet I continue to think Cleveland's really, really good.

[Joe House]

They are really good.

[Bill Simmons]

And I have Celtics fans in my life who aren't really focused on it enough yet. One of the things about them, Mitchell is about as unafraid of the Celtics as any guy in the league. Like, he really has so much confidence against them. They have size and there's still that accoro spot that I think. I don't know if they're going to try to upgrade that or whether they just like the chemistry so much.

[Joe House]

But I also would just counsel in favor of, like, don't be dismissive of the Knicks. If the Knicks arrive the playoffs healthy, those guys, it's their alpha. They are not. They think that Boston is beta and they think that they're alpha and that's going to be a hell of a fist fight. I'm just telling you.

[Bill Simmons]

I'll welcome that one.

[Joe House]

Okay. I'm just telling you they think it'll be a fist fight and it might.

[Bill Simmons]

Be the Knicks aren't the team. It's Cleveland's team now, the Knicks, if Robinson can come back and actually be healthy.

[Joe House]

Yes, I said they're healthy.

[Bill Simmons]

I figure there's a buyout guy for them that we don't know who it is in February or beginning of March, but there's some guy they're going to get who is excited to play with the Knicks, who has a relationship with Wes and Leon for sure. And there's some sort of defense replacement type swing that will be on their team that I don't know who it is yet.

[Joe House]

Is. It is. Is it. It could. It can't be divincenzo. He can't.

[Bill Simmons]

I mean, he is traded minutes.

[Joe House]

He would like to come back.

[Bill Simmons]

Minnesota will be able to trade him.

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

I don't think they'll be able to trade Randall, but anyway. All right. How Saw the Washington commanders?

[Joe House]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

What's your enthusiasm level right now? Super high.

[Joe House]

I tried. I did a whole emotional hedge. A whole thing. I made my best bet. Tennessee last week. It was worth it. It was worth it. I don't. I mean, that's a. That's a good investment by me. Washington kicked their ass. I love it. Why? I'm going to go to. I'm not even going to say it out loud. I'm cautiously optimistic for the fortunes of my Washington football team. That's the way I'll say it.

[Bill Simmons]

Who do you think gets benched first? Kirk Cousins, Aaron Rodgers, or John Justremsky from the Sunday Ringer pregame show?

[Joe House]

No.

[Bill Simmons]

Who's gonna get the hook?

[Joe House]

Not jj. JJ is a starter for life.

[Bill Simmons]

I saw an unnamed vet in the Ringer locker room say JJ was hosting for his starting job this week.

[Joe House]

I won't tolerate it. No JJ slander on any.

[Bill Simmons]

I'm just kidding, jj. I mean, he did start. He did start a podcast part today. He was saying, like, guys, don't think I'm crazy. Anytime he starts a sentence with don't think I'm crazy, I'm like, oh, no, here you go. He's going to take a terrible quarterback here.

[Joe House]

I enjoy it. I always enjoy it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, no, I'm jj. You can turn it around. We all have faith. Joe House, great to see you. I'll see you in the Ringer Sunday pregame show.

[Joe House]

Yeah, buddy.

[Bill Simmons]

Sunday 11am on YouTube TV and FanDuel TV. Great to see you.

[Joe House]

Great to see you.

[Bill Simmons]

This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. It's football season and Uber Eats is dropping undefeated deals on all your game day favorites this week. Score a free medium two topping Domino's Pizza with minimum purchase only on UberEats. And if you're craving even more, we've got you covered with game game deals on pizza, burgers, tacos and more. Order UberEats now for game day terms, taxes and fees apply. See app for details. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. It's nice to see all the different family traditions people do this time of year. You know, it's become one of my new favorite traditions. My daughter comes home from college. We haven't seen her in la, where I live, since the beginning of August. So when she comes home, it feels like the conquering hero's back. I love it. However you plan to spend your time during the holiday season, I hope you guys are happy, but also you should be feeling that way all year round. So make sure you bring yourself some comfort that'll never go away. And try therapy. Therapy teaches us so many different skills and coping techniques like positive coping skills, how to relax. And it can help everyone, not just people who have experienced a major trauma. If you want to try it out for yourself, check out BetterHelp. It's an easy, convenient way to get started, especially since everything is online. All you have to do is fill out a short questionnaire and then you'll be matched with a licensed therapist. It's that easy. Find comfort this December with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.combillSimmons today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L P.com Bill Simmons. All right, somebody I've never had in the podcast before, Jesse, I know him as the Body Ventura, but he is going to be returning to NBC WWE Saturday night's main event, returning to broadcast television Saturday, December 14, 8:00pm ET live. And Jesse, you're going to be part of the announcing crew. You're going to do a match or two. And not only you're a Hall of Famer, you are one of the great broadcasters of all time. So I'm so happy to have you on TV again.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, thanks, Bill. It's great to be here. And the ironic thing is that we're holding this event in the very building that we held the very first one way back in the 80s.

[Bill Simmons]

So which building is it? I don't even know.

[Jesse Ventura]

I don't know. Nassau Coliseum, wherever. The one out in Long Island?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

That's where we held it back then. And so they're going to hold this very first one of the new NBC Saturday night's main event. And what's exciting about it, and I got the word on this, it's going. The whole show is going to be a throwback.

[Bill Simmons]

What does that mean?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, that means it's going to look like it did before.

[Bill Simmons]

Really?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

The graphics, everything.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yes. The wrestlers are not coming down that ramp. They're not coming with all the lights and spectacular. They're coming in through the crowd.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow.

[Jesse Ventura]

Like the old days. That's why they brought me back.

[Bill Simmons]

Amazing. Wow. You should be back.

[Jesse Ventura]

Anyway, we're going back in the time capsule, only it's going to be four times a year.

[Bill Simmons]

Unbelievable. So what was of all the Friday night main event? Saturday night main event. And I know it's almost 40 years ago, but what, what, what was the most memorable one for you? Because you were there for most of.

[Jesse Ventura]

I'll get to them, but I need to make a. More of an introduction here.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

Hell has frozen over.

[Bill Simmons]

Why?

[Jesse Ventura]

Because I never dreamed I would be back in the WWE now. Wwf. Until hell froze over. I had a friend, Glenn Fry of the Eagles. And I remember when the Eagles broke up, they. They thought, oh, it's it's over. We'll never hear another Eagle song. The differences are too much. They'll never be able to bend fences. And lo and behold, Glenn got together with, you know, and away with Don Henley. And away they go. They came back and they cut that phenomenal album When Hell Freezes Over. And I kind of feel that way that hell has frozen over for me because I never believed in my wildest dreams I would be back doing wrestling again.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, in the Eagles case, Hell froze over because they made a shitload of money on that concert tour. I think that's one of the reasons. Right. That was like one of the first great nostalgia tours ever went. So what's the case for you? Why did hell freeze over?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, because for me, it's a full circle of my career. I, I can't go back in the United States Navy where I spent my first six years. Yeah, when I graduated, after I graduated from high school, I had, I was in the Navy, United States Navy for six years. I can't do that because there's age limits. My friend Rudy Boss stayed as long as you could. He had 44 years in when they threw Rudy out. But anyway, that aside, but this, this is ironic because it, it means my career has gone full circle, right? Because. And, and here's the part that I don't understand. They couldn't control me before. Why do they believe they can now?

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, I like this. Is that really. Why is that what happened with you? They felt like they couldn't control you? Like when you talk about fences being.

[Jesse Ventura]

Many, I was throwing out. I was uncontrollable. Jesse the Body Ventura, number one, I tried to unionize, right? Number two, I wouldn't allow them to market me without negotiating it. That's what ultimately got me thrown out of the wwf, wwe. Then I went to wcw. Here's the behind the scenes story. I went to wcw. They went into turmoil. The guy who hired me got fired. They brought in Bill Watts, who was an old school relic who didn't understand the business had changed. It had gone to television now, not to putting seats in the stands. The money was now going to be in tv. He didn't get that. So he comes in and then he gets fired. And I busted my butt behind the scenes to get Eric Bischoff into the position. And here's where it got interesting. Eric Bischoff then got the head job at wcw. And then behind my back, he went out and got Hogan because Hogan was leaving the WWF or getting booted or whatever was happening. With his career. They gave Hogan total artistic control. He came in, got me immediately fired because he took over my look. He put the shades on, he put the do rag on, and he became a villain. He couldn't have Jesse Ventura be there and become Jesse Ventura. So he got me fired. And in essence, my wrestling career was over. I had worked for the two major. I wasn't going into one of these little outlaw ones in your own hometown. That wasn't about to happen. I looked to other things. What did I do? I went to the dirtiest business on the planet, got myself elected mayor and went on and got myself defeated the Democrats and Republicans at the same time and got myself elected governor of Minnesota and did this. I only raised $300,000 to do it. You want to know who could have been president if he wanted to be? You're talking to him.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, you beat a legacy kid too, in Minnesota. You upended both parties, then beat Humphrey's son.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, I beat Hubert Humphrey's son. I beat Senator Norm Coleman. Well, on the Democratic side at that time, we called it My three Sons. You had the sons of Hubert Humphrey, Orville Freeman and Mondale. So it was my three sons. On the Democratic side.

[Bill Simmons]

Like the old TV show, the legacy kids always have trouble in politics and sports. I want to go back to Hogan, though, because. And there's been a lot written and a lot discussed, but you haven't seen it yet. But we did the six episode documentary on Vince McMahon for Netflix and we had a big section in there about when you tried to unionize in 86 before WrestleMania 2, that we ended up in the final cut. We only had six plus hours. We ended up. We. It's in there. But we cut it down a little from one of the cuts. We had like eight, nine minutes because it was so interesting. And what really happened was Hogan shanked you. And Hogan admitted to it to us on camera that, yeah, he went and ran to Vince and told him what you were trying to do. And you were basically trying to upend WrestleMania to get it so that they, they would have health benefits, all kinds of stuff that they didn't have.

[Jesse Ventura]

It was. Okay, here's the. Here's the story. Yeah, it was. I knew this was the perfect time. And then of course, we had to get with the Charlotte guys and have them walk out. Also, if we could have got us and Charlotte, it was perfect timing. All the publicity was out there. He couldn't change nothing. There wasn't.

[Bill Simmons]

The pay per views are being sold. The WrestleMania 2 three cities the whole thing.

[Jesse Ventura]

It's two weeks before the show. All we had to do was, as in mass, walk out, go to the media and say, we refuse to wrestle unless federal negotiators for union are brought in. It's federal law. He couldn't stop it. It's federal law and we refuse to perform until we're allowed to unionize or collective bargain and bring these people in. And I made that passion speech. And when I was done, I went home. And the next day, Vince calls me immediately. Well, I found out he apparently called all the wrestlers and threatened them all and all of this stuff. I guess I didn't know about that, but he called me and I stood up to him. I said, vince, I said, this isn't just to fight you. I said, this is about the fact right now, and this was mid-80s. I said, right now I'm paying $5,000 a year for health insurance for me and my family. I said, if we had.

[Bill Simmons]

Out of your own pocket.

[Jesse Ventura]

Out of my pocket. If we had a union, there's strength in numbers. Maybe I'd only have to pay 2,000 a year instead of five. I said, Vince, I've seen hundreds of guys give 20 years of their life to this business, and in the end, they ain't got a pot to piss in a window to throw it out of. I said, we're wrestlers, we're not financial planners. And I said, if we had a union, maybe a guy could retire on 500 bucks a month and get something for the 20, 30 years you give to this business. I said, it isn't just about fighting you. I said, sure, and we'd like working conditions to where if you go on the road three days in a row, you're then given so many days off.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, hold on, wait a second. You gotta give context on this. Because in the 70s and 80s, you guys are on the road for 300, 310 days a year. You're wrestling everywhere. You're in all the territories, nonstop.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I'll tell you how bad it was when I got injured with pulmonary emboli. Blood clots in the lungs.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

That was caused by flying.

[Bill Simmons]

Really?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yes. They've determined it today that you're very more susceptible. That's why you need to exercise on planes. So. And they don't say nothing now because the airline people are well aware of it. I get up on every plane and do toe raises for 10 minutes. The flight attendant won't say a word to you. They know exactly what you're doing.

[Bill Simmons]

Interesting.

[Jesse Ventura]

But the point Is. Here's how bad it was the month that I had the pulmonary emboli, blood clots. Do you know how many days that month I flew? 28.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, my God. Really?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yes.

[Bill Simmons]

And you were one of the headliners at that point, like you were going against Hogan. You were one of their best guys.

[Jesse Ventura]

You're talking 30 days in a month and 28 of them. I was on an airplane. Let's get back to. That's what I wanted the union for. I wanted the union and for Hogan to then make a statement. Well, I didn't want to get paid like everybody else. He makes it sound like unionizing is socialism and communism. Does Pat Mahomes make the same money as everybody else in the NFL? Of course not. He makes way more. And they have a union. Does LeBron James make more than everybody in the NBA? Yes, of course he does. And they have a union. Hogan would have still made more. That's a lame excuse. You want to know how bad it was? It came out in my court case, my court case against Vince. We had the numbers from WrestleMania 3, right? The big one, Pontiac Silver Dome.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

Hogan against Andre. And then the greatest match that I ever saw, Ricky Steamboat against Macho. The greatest match I'd ever broadcast or ever seen that match. But that aside, we got the numbers in my court case. Hulk Hogan made more that night than all of the rest of us combined, including Andrew.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow. I mean, he did. Probably was the biggest reason they sold out this over to him, though.

[Jesse Ventura]

Now, you want to know why he didn't? You want to know why he'd lay his life down to stop a union?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, he denied it forever and ever. Right. He always said he never did it, and now he admits that he did it.

[Jesse Ventura]

Of course he did. And here's why. And here's why. If you come from the business during my era of the old territory days, the worst thing you can be accused of being is an office stooge. That's somebody who rides around with the boys, pretends he's one of them, but all the while he's listening to the gossip and he's reporting it back to the promoters, taking care of himself and being, quote, an office stooge. That in my day of wrestling was the worst thing you could ever be. Well, what's interesting about what Hogan was.

[Bill Simmons]

Your relationship with him. You didn't know for a few years, Right. It didn't come out to the steroid trial that he had in 94, that he had been actually going back and telling.

[Jesse Ventura]

It didn't come out until my trial that I had. And it only came out because I told my attorney the story. And when you depose someone, you can ask anything in a deposition. So I told my attorney the story, and my attorney was great. They beat Vince. And my attorney, I said, if you can find out who ratted me, I would really love to know who was the rat in the dressing room that ratted me out. And so during the deposition, I can't say anything. I'm sitting there, and my attorney asked Vince, he said, Mr. McMahon, he said, has there ever been a union in wrestling? And Vince said, no. And my attorney said, has anyone ever tried to form a union in wrestling? And Vince thought a moment, and he said, yeah. He said, I think Jesse Ventura might have spouted his mouth. I remember he used the term spouted his mouth off about it one time a number of years ago. And my attorney said, oh, really? He said, did you hear Mr. Ventura talk about unionizing? And Vince went, no. And my attorney said, well, then how were you aware of it? With no hesitation, Vince went, hulk Hogan told me. I almost fell out of my chair. Now I had to sit there. I can't show no emotion. I can't. You know, it's a deposition. I can't talk. I can't nothing. I can only sit there and confer with my attorney. It was. It was as. It was as rough as getting hit in the face with a hard left jab. Because Hulk Hogan had, I thought, been my friend.

[Bill Simmons]

Hmm. Who did you think did it then, before you found out it was Hogan? Who did you think was the one that told Vince?

[Jesse Ventura]

I had no idea. That's why I wanted to find out. I wanted to know who was the rat in the dressing room. Because I made sure there was nobody from the office when I made the speech, when I made this, because I made sure of it. Pat Patterson wasn't there. Strongbow wasn't in there. None of the agents were there.

[Bill Simmons]

So you knew because you started wrestling almost 50 years ago, and you were in, I think, the Portland territory, where you wrestled against one of my favorites, Snuka, back when. Back when he really had the hops. You were in Minnesota. That's when you teamed up with Adrian Adonis.

[Jesse Ventura]

Sure.

[Bill Simmons]

AWA. But then you ended up in the WWF back then, early 80s, right around when Hogan was in there as a bad guy. So you must have known him forever.

[Jesse Ventura]

No, no. Hogan came into the AWA when I was there.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, you. Right, right. So that was even, like the 79, 80 range.

[Jesse Ventura]

And then Vern. Vern wouldn't give him the title and Verne wouldn't let him market himself. And so Hogan made the smart move. He jumped right away to Vince, who let him do all that. And, you know, financially, yeah, I don't begrudge Hogan that. I'd have did the same thing, too.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

You know, but him ratting us, that was low. Well, you know, but anyway, you know, that was the nature of the business. Everyone's out for themselves. You know, it's always been that nature of the business. That's how the business survived, was backstabbing.

[Bill Simmons]

You know, we. We had a couple of what if scenarios when Vince took over, and we. We played it up a little in documentary, but not as much as I think we could have, because one of the guys he wanted was Dusty Rhodes, because he knew we had to get rid of Bob back when he knew he needed a more charismatic champion. And then the other one was Hogan. And at that point, Hogan was in the awa, as you said, but Verne Gagne wouldn't give him the title coming off Rocky iii when they were on espn, and there's this whole alternate universe where Verne Gagne just says, I should just build AWA around this guy. And Hogan never leaves and becomes like, this ESPN star. And I don't know what happens to wrestling if that happens.

[Jesse Ventura]

I don't know. Who the heck would know?

[Bill Simmons]

It's a good sliding doors, though, right?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, then it would have been a hell of a lot more challenging for Vince to go across the country like he did, because Vince needed Hogan just as Hogan needed him. They needed each other.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

You know, that was a mutual deal. And don't begrudge either one of them. You know, what they accomplished was remarkable, and I was happy to be part of it, you know?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. I mean, it worked out perfectly for all sides.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah, and it worked out, and it worked out great for me because, you know, unfortunately, my career ended right before I was due to wrestle Hogan. The night before I was due to wrestle Hogan in la. My first match with him in the wwf, and I'm seven days critical in San Diego hospital so bad, my wife had to fly out to San Diego. I didn't know if I'd ever wrestle again. And ironically, you know who came to my rescue?

[Bill Simmons]

Who?

[Jesse Ventura]

And she don't even know it. I bet today, I bet if you asked her, she wouldn't even truly know it. Cyndi Lauper.

[Bill Simmons]

Really?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

How did she come to your rescue?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, Cyndi Lauper did me A favor that ended up creating my entire broadcasting career, which was, I went home. I went home facing the end of my wrestling career. What do I do now? Am I going to go down to General Mills and sign on as a VP and put down past experience pro wrestler? You're not going to get no job.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

And like all pro athletes in its own weird way, nobody ever thinks about it till it's over. And then when it's over, you gotta face it. And I had to face it prematurely. I was. I did come back in the ring, but I never came back to the extent of what I was doing. And I. And a friend of mine said, here's the Lopper story. A friend of mine said, you should be a broadcaster. You can talk. So I went down to Channel 11, Tom Reither. He just passed away a few months ago. My friend Tom Rider. And I told Tom my situation. He was ahead of sports down there. So he introduced me to the head guy of the station and he gave me a producer, cameraman who was Emmy award winning. And he said, okay. He said, go out and do something for me. Right, Right.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

So Cindy. It was right during the Cyndi Lauper rock and wrestling crap, you know, when Cindy was all involved with Wendy Richter and it was going big and all that mtv. Cindy was doing a concert here in Minneapolis. So I called up David Wolf, her manager, and I said, could I come down and interview Cindy before the show? He said, of course. And so I came down with my guy. We got together with Cindy, and it was during that punk era. So we decided to have Cindy dye my hair. So Cyndi Lauper dyed my hair like, six different colors because that was in then. And that night at her concert, she brought me out in front of the crowd to show the crowd what we had did that afternoon. And Vince got a hold of that tape and it was like two days later, he calls me and he says, jesse, do you think you could do color commentating? And I said, I know I could. And he said, I got an idea. I said, what is it? He said, there's never been a villain on the mic before. You're going to be the first one.

[Bill Simmons]

Honestly, one of the great ideas, and I wish we had them in actual sports. It would be really fun if we had football, NBA, we had somebody who was the heel announcer. I know they would never do it, but super fun.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, like, I said that, and that's so I. Oh, Cindy, I bet don't even know.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

That the piece she did with me spurred McMahon to have the light. And I give Vince Credit, he's P.T. barnum of the generation, man. The light bulb went out in Vince's head and he thought, there's never been a villain on the mic. Let's put a villain on the mic. And then I was fortunate because who did they put me on with but Gorilla Monsoon.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. One of the great teams.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, I mean, Gino was a dream, so to work with, you know, you couldn't have asked for an easier, better tandem. I don't think Gino and I ever had a misunderstanding, ever. I can't. I can't think of one.

[Bill Simmons]

Can we go back to your wrestling for a second? How did you ever hit your peak? Do you feel like there was more there? Did you hit your ceiling? When were you at your best?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I think I was at my best right before I was going to go against Hogan.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. So how old are you at that point? You're like mid, late 30s, earlier.

[Jesse Ventura]

30S, right. Yeah, but I'm right at the. I'm right. I'm right where I ought to be for it.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

And you could have been experienced.

[Bill Simmons]

You could have been one of the big heels.

[Jesse Ventura]

I'm as big as I'm ever going to be, and right there. And all of a sudden I'm flat on my back in critical condition in San Diego, California, not knowing if I'm going to live or die.

[Bill Simmons]

And yet, weirdly, physically, it was probably better for you long term.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I always view it as. And I tell people this when I give speeches and stuff. I always tell people, remember, out of adversity, great things can happen. When you think adversity struck you and that everything has gone to shit. It's amazing how. Look what I fell into. Then I got more famous being on the mic than I probably ever would have been in the ring.

[Bill Simmons]

I mean, the thing you tapped into, which was so funny, wrestling was all about provoking reaction, either a happy reaction or an angry reaction. Right. The more heat you can get whether you're wrestling. That's why a manager, whatever, that. That's where you want to be.

[Jesse Ventura]

Control me then. What makes them think they can now?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, you were the first announcer that made people mad.

[Jesse Ventura]

Exactly. Did they have any idea the power I have now? They have any idea the guy that's going to be on that mic sat down face to face with Fidel Castro.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

Do they have any idea that the guy on that mic had a dinner in his honor at Tiananmen Square in China?

[Bill Simmons]

Wow.

[Jesse Ventura]

So you've seen it all. And I Did all this after wrestling.

[Bill Simmons]

What was your relationship with, like with Vince the last 25 years? Because you came back, you got inducted into the hall of Fame, but other than that, you weren't really around.

[Jesse Ventura]

I had no relationship with him. Really. Nothing.

[Bill Simmons]

So what was your reaction watching the last five years as it all kind of fell apart?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, when I got inducted into the hall of Fame, they asked me what I felt my biggest contribution was to pro wrestling. And I think I shocked everyone. And I know I irritated Vince and Linda, but I said, I believe my biggest contribution to wrestling was the fact that I was the first wrestler in history who made Vince McMahon deal with a manager or an agent.

[Bill Simmons]

Is that true?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yes. Hogan never did. Hogan dealt with Vince. It's him and Vince. Hogan had a Hollywood agent. I was the first one. And that resulted because of Predator.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. Which he didn't want you to do.

[Jesse Ventura]

He told me I couldn't do it. So I quit and I went and did Predator. And while I was doing Predator, Arnold said, in September, I'm going to do the Running Man. There's a part you're perfect for. Would you like to do it? And I said, hell yeah. And so I negotiated Running man first. Then I went back to Vince. And you know why that was? That gives you fu money in your pocket, right? Where if he doesn't do what I, what I'm satisfied with, I tell him, flake off. I got, I'm doing the Running man in the fall. I'm okay. I got another major movie with Arnold that's going to come up in the fall.

[Bill Simmons]

But the thing is, all of that stuff was fantastic for the WWF at the time. To have their announcer being these high profile movies with one of the biggest movie stars we had.

[Jesse Ventura]

That, that ain't, that ain't what it's about with him. With people like him and power people with money like that. It's control. It ain't got nothing to do with doing deals and doing the right thing and promoting the correct way. It's all about control. I was the horse that got out of the corral. I wouldn't let him market me. That's the final straw. I was going to do my own video game and Vince said, you can't do it. I said, I own my rights. I'm registered with the government. Jesse the Body Ventura, I own the copyright with the government. How can you tell me I can't do it? And that was the final straw. That's when he fired me. And then I think he. Because I never did get the video game. So I think some hanky pank went on there too.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, no. Well, then when you sued him.

[Jesse Ventura]

I know I have no evidence.

[Bill Simmons]

When you sued him, it was because he. You felt like you were given the wrong impression of a contract you signed that signed away your rights to be basically in all the home videos.

[Jesse Ventura]

I never signed the contract.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh, that's what it was.

[Jesse Ventura]

Okay, I never had a contract.

[Bill Simmons]

So when you sued them, what were you suing them for? And the important point is that you won.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I sued them over videotape royalties. And not that he had to pay me, but all the time that I was working for Vince, I would ask him, vince, how come everything I do in Hollywood when they replay it, I get royalties? And everything I do for you, I get nothing. I said, work. It was just he and I. I'd be there with him alone. I say, tell me how that works. How come I get royalties in Hollywood and I don't with you? And he'd give me these phony excuses of why. So what I did, every time I, or at that time, my agent was Barry Bloom. Every time I or Barry would negotiate with the wwf, we would bring up videotape royalties. And every time we were told the same thing. I don't pay videotape royalties. Well, we won in court on what's called quantum merit. And what that means. Vince didn't have to pay royalties. There's no law that says he does. Yeah, but here's how I beat him. When you sit down to negotiate, you expect the other side to be telling you the truth. We were constantly lied to by being told he didn't pay royalties. Well, when we sued and got into discovery, we found out Hulk Hogan was getting royalties. Mr. T was getting royalties. Cyndi Lauper was getting royalties. Everybody from mainstream Hollywood were all getting royalties, right? It was us wrestlers who weren't. Well, he lied during those negotiations and said, I don't pay royalties. That's called quantum merit. That's where he broke the law. He has to tell the truth during negotiations. You expect that he can't lie. And the truth was, yes, he paid royalties. And when I got on the stand, my attorney asked me, jesse Ventura, had you known other people were receiving royalties, would you have agreed to work for what you did? I said, absolutely not. I said, if I found out other people were getting royalties, I would have demanded them too.

[Bill Simmons]

There you go.

[Jesse Ventura]

And the jury found for me.

[Bill Simmons]

Vincent. Probably like that, I'm guessing.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, he hated it. He took it all the way to the Supreme Court, for cripes sake.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow.

[Jesse Ventura]

And then he calls me on the phone and screams into my ear when it's all over, that's my money. And I very calmly said to him, vince, I said, the jury said it was my money. The federal judge said it was my money. The United States Court of Appeals said it was my money. And the Supreme Court says it's my money. I said, vince, I think you're a minority opinion.

[Bill Simmons]

And that's that.

[Jesse Ventura]

And that was the end of it.

[Bill Simmons]

So 10 years after you left, give or take a year, yeah, he became a heel. He became heel owner after Brent Hart, Bret Hart punched him. And that led the Montreal Screw job. And it leads to this whole character arc where he's the owner of WWF at that point, but is also bleeding in. And it's hard to tell what's real, what's not real. Did you ever figure that out when you worked with him? What was real and what wasn't real with that guy?

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I'll tell you this. Vince was successful because as bad as he was, all the other promoters were worse.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

No, I'm serious.

[Bill Simmons]

No, I believe you. I'm laughing because you're right.

[Jesse Ventura]

Vince was like the savior.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

I knew when I went to Vince that final time, I was going to quit the business. This was it. I'm going to go try. I'm going to do this last hurrah with Vince. If it fails, I'm done. If it succeeds, we'll take it to wherever it goes. And fortunately, we succeeded. I was in pretty much. I knew I was going to do it before. Well, before I did it, because there's another story behind that. But I won't go into it today. But it's a long one. But Vince actually did me a great favor along the way, and that's why I had loyalty to him.

[Bill Simmons]

Okay.

[Jesse Ventura]

And I'll just leave it at that.

[Bill Simmons]

A favor in the early 80s, mid-80s.

[Jesse Ventura]

Or late 80s, early 80s to mid-80s. When the jump happened.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I'll tell you the final straw of why I jumped from the AWA events. Want to hear that?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

I was with Saito then, Mr. Torture.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

And we were, of course, the Far East West Connection. And me and Torch were wrestling tag team then in the awa. And Vince was just starting to make his big move and they ran lacrosse, Wisconsin. And we went down there and we did an angle for a cage match. Right. And so three weeks later, we got the payoff. It was okay. Three weeks later, we came back to lacrosse, me and Saito for the cage match. And Vern and Greg were on their yearly Aspen vacation.

[Bill Simmons]

The Gagnes.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah, where they go up to Aspen and ski and have fun. That's what they were doing. Then when we had the rematch in lacrosse and it was in the cage and the house jumped, I think 20 to $25,000. Right. In business. And I got my paycheck and I got less money. And this was at a time when Hogan had just jumped and I got paid. The house went up and I got paid less. And Gagnas were on their vacation. Well, I knew who was paying for the vacation. We were. And so I came up to Wally Carbo and I said, wally, what the hell is this? I said, the house jumps 25,000 bucks and I get less money. I said, well, the next time, I hope nobody's there, I'll get more money. I said, what kind of bullshit is this?

[Bill Simmons]

Right?

[Jesse Ventura]

And this is at a time he should have been taking care of his wrestlers, not cheating them.

[Bill Simmons]

So that was that.

[Jesse Ventura]

And that's what happened. And look. And that was the final straw for me. I said, I'm jumping defense.

[Bill Simmons]

Best. Best guy you ever wrestled against. Most impressed you were by another wrestler. Who was it?

[Jesse Ventura]

Say that again.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, you wrestled a bunch of guys?

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

From 75 to 86. Who is the best one? Who is the best in ring guy you wrestled?

[Jesse Ventura]

I don't know who the best was, but the guy I like to wrestle and work with the most was Tito Santana.

[Bill Simmons]

Really? Why?

[Jesse Ventura]

Because Tito and I go back to the AWA and we were on the same wavelength. He understood my style, and he adapted completely to me, and he had total confidence. When it was his time, I would always give it to him. And I never had a bad match ever with Tito Santana. I would say, right with him would be Jimmy Snuka.

[Bill Simmons]

Mm. You know my first favorite?

[Jesse Ventura]

Jimmy. Jimmy Snuka. Tito Santana.

[Bill Simmons]

Was Snuka doing the stuff in Portland, Was he doing the jump off the top rope, all that stuff. Even in the mid-70s, he was doing everything.

[Jesse Ventura]

And everyone was saying, jimmy, why are you wasting it here? Get to New York, right?

[Bill Simmons]

You need a bigger audience.

[Jesse Ventura]

There had to been 10 to 15 people that told Jimmy Snuka to get to New York. And I was one of them because I wanted him there because I knew I wouldn't be far behind him. And if he wasn't a villain out there, I knew I'd get to work with him.

[Bill Simmons]

Right. What was the most memorable main event that you did a broadcast for? Because I have A couple in my head.

[Jesse Ventura]

What's the most memorable match I ever did was Macho and Steamboat. That's the Greatest match in WrestleMania 3.

[Bill Simmons]

WrestleMania 3. What about the Twin Hebner's? You did that one, right?

[Jesse Ventura]

Probably. I think so.

[Bill Simmons]

With that, when Hogan lost the title because the twin referee came out. Oh, yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

I vaguely remember it now. That was a good one. Yeah, the Hebner brothers. That was a good one. See you reminding me of this stuff. I don't have memory of a lot of it. Yeah, you're in the grind and I'll tell you why. When Hogan got me bumped out of wcw, that was it. I stopped watching. I didn't pay attention. I vaguely only remember the Rock against Stone Cold. I know that was huge. But I wasn't watching it. It had nothing to do with me. And I moved on. Put it this way, I moved on with my life.

[Bill Simmons]

You moved on.

[Jesse Ventura]

Move forward. I wasn't gonna let wrestling define me.

[Bill Simmons]

So, Running man vs. Predator. What movie gets mentioned more to you over the last 35 years? Predator.

[Jesse Ventura]

More. Okay, Predator.

[Bill Simmons]

What is the number one thing that you get asked about it?

[Jesse Ventura]

It's my film. No, certain films have lines that define them. And if you go to Predator, you have the. You have the most famous line defining line of the movie. I ain't got time to bleed.

[Bill Simmons]

I can't argue.

[Jesse Ventura]

Okay. Just as in Terminator, Arnold's I'll be back.

[Bill Simmons]

So have you told Arnold this? Hey, just FYI, I had the best line of Predator.

[Jesse Ventura]

No. Why would I do that?

[Bill Simmons]

Because you could.

[Jesse Ventura]

That's up. That's all. Up to. That's all. There's no one that can say it was or wasn't. That's all up to the discretion of anybody. I'm just saying. 20th Century Fox printed it on a T shirt. And, you know, I feel great because every film usually has one line that defines it.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

And I had a supporting role. In fact, the biggest complaint that I receive on Predator is that I died too soon.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, that's my biggest complaint.

[Jesse Ventura]

But see, then I have to inform you it had to be that way.

[Bill Simmons]

Why?

[Jesse Ventura]

Why?

[Bill Simmons]

We could have. You could have made it 15 more minutes.

[Jesse Ventura]

No, no, it had to be that way. You know why?

[Bill Simmons]

Why?

[Jesse Ventura]

I was the toughest guy and you noticed I was the only one that had a funeral.

[Bill Simmons]

Right? Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

Okay. And here's the biggest thing. When I died is when the platoon went to shit.

[Bill Simmons]

The stakes got higher.

[Jesse Ventura]

Blaine was dead. Blaine died.

[Bill Simmons]

Now we're in trouble.

[Jesse Ventura]

Blaine doesn't die. This guy is the Closest thing to Superman. He's been through all these wars, all these incursions. Walked out of every one of them. How can Blaine be dead? What could kill Blaine? That's why I had to die. Remember when Sonny Landam turns and says we're all gonna die? Because why? Blaine was dead.

[Bill Simmons]

And you were there for the Van Damme stuff. Van Damme? The Van Damme playing the Predator for like a couple minutes. Right. And then he got fired.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah. I was there when John came down.

[Bill Simmons]

So when he became a star later, were you like that guy?

[Jesse Ventura]

No, not at all. Jean had. Jean Claude had talent. Jean Claude, he was living out of his trunk at the time when I met him. And that was the first job he ever got. And I think he didn't understand that. He thought he was going to be running through the jungle and all the girls were going to see his handsome, pretty face. And I don't. And I think when he got down there, he realized nobody was going to see his pretty face.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

He was going to be inside of some type of suit. And they hired him because they thought he'd be agile with his karate stuff. Well, he wasn't.

[Joe House]

Not in that suit.

[Jesse Ventura]

No. And he let. And they fired him. And they got Kevin Peter Hall, a 7 foot 1 black man. And Kevin filled out the suit a lot better.

[Bill Simmons]

How much? How much?

[Jesse Ventura]

I don't know. I never saw the Predator ever.

[Bill Simmons]

What do you mean?

[Jesse Ventura]

Screening in Chicago.

[Bill Simmons]

How?

[Jesse Ventura]

And what's good about that? I'm not supposed to see it. It's invisible, isn't it?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, when you watch it now, the special effects we didn't have in the 80s was. Was tough.

[Jesse Ventura]

It was invisible. That's why I couldn't see it in the first place. I only saw it for the first time at a screening in Chicago. We had to pretend it was killing us. We couldn't see it. I never saw what it was going to look like.

[Bill Simmons]

You were just acting.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yes. I never saw the Predator till they created it. Long after we were done shooting.

[Bill Simmons]

How much input did you have over Captain Freedom's workout video in Running Man?

[Jesse Ventura]

In Running Man. Complete Free.

[Joe House]

Yeah.

[Bill Simmons]

You had a whole workout video in that?

[Jesse Ventura]

Complete Freedom, like my name. Do you want to hear the backstory?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, it's a great one. Running Man. So I'm the retired stalker who now has this physical fitness show on tv, right?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, that's.

[Jesse Ventura]

That's what I do now, as well as color commentate the Running man game.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

And so I have my workout thing in the day. So what occurred was this. When they needed to do that, she wasn't famous yet for singing. That was due to happen in, like, a year or two. But they sent me over to this nice little beautiful young woman by the name of Paula Abdul, and they sent me over to her dance studio because Paula's one of the. At the time, one of the top choreographers in Hollywood. And I'll never forget, she knew what she had to do. I knew basically what I was there for. And I remember Paula Abdul, she got famous singing a couple years later. But she came up to me that day, and it was hilarious. I'm £260, this hulking, big monster, and she's this bitsy little tiny girl, athletic as hell, can do all this. Got these skinny girls that can do all this dancing in Hollywood. And she looks at me and she goes, looks at me and smiles. And she says, what can you do?

[Bill Simmons]

What was the answer?

[Jesse Ventura]

Wait, wait. And I looked at her, and at the time at home, I had started taking aerobics, and I had done aerobics. I challenged myself. I had gotten up to level three. An hour and a half with David Gray, the Crystal Light National Aerobics Champion. He was my instructor in Minneapolis. The Crystal Light National Aerobics champion. So I looked at Paula Abdul. I said, well, I said, for the last few months, I'm getting ready for this. I've been doing aerobics. She looked at me, a big smile. She says, great. She goes, you do aerobics, we'll dance around you. I went, okay. And that's what we did. I went out and went through aerobic routines. And Paula choreographed all the girls to dance around my routines and make it work. And there you have Captain Freedom's workout.

[Bill Simmons]

So you worked with Hogan and schwarzenegger during this mid-80s testosterone. Very patriotic time in America.

[Jesse Ventura]

And Stallone.

[Bill Simmons]

So when did you work with Stallone?

[Jesse Ventura]

Demoman?

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, that was 90s, though. I was thinking more 80s.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, okay, that was late 90s. And they also cut our fight scene completely.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I was going to say I. Because you couldn't have worked with stallone in the 80s because you were so much bigger than him. I don't know how they would have done that.

[Jesse Ventura]

I was bigger than him in the 90s, too.

[Bill Simmons]

That's the thing.

[Jesse Ventura]

I don't. I forgot I don't have to lean in the mic.

[Joe House]

No, no.

[Bill Simmons]

But I mean, it is funny because that era of a lot of muscles, predators, the peak of it. Because Predator just has entire bicep scenes, which is close up of oiled biceps. Just where we were in 1987.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, the great thing about Arnold is he's not insecure.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

When you've won Mr. Olympia seven times. Come on, that's the best built man in the world.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

And he won it seven times. Arnold doesn't have insecurities. Arnold doesn't care that I'm 2 or 3 inches taller than him. That doesn't bother him.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, you playing pranks on the set with him. There's good YouTube stuff about you playing pranks with that. Trying to convince people you had bigger biceps than him. All that stuff.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, I think that really got blown out of proportion. We did more. I don't know. The thing about doing a Schwarzenegger film is you're going to have fun. Yeah, that's the fun part about it. Arnold never takes himself too seriously. Only when he has to, you know. You know, I was also in the trailer with him sitting right there when these guys came up to him. We weren't even finished doing Predator.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

And these guys were approaching him about the sequel Predator 2, which they did without him. Wait, I won't say the money because it's no one's business. Yeah, but I sat right there and they offered Arnold, and this was 1985. 86. They offered him so much money to do Predator 2 when they. And he turned them down flat. When they left. I looked at him and I said, arnold, it's just him. And I. I said, how in the hell do you turn down. And I said, the figure. Arnold looked at me and smiled. You know what he said to me? Jesse, the time is not right. And he was right.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

The Predator sequel was a bomb. People know. Look at what he did on Terminator. He made them wait seven years. He made the public want the sequel.

[Bill Simmons]

Smart. I mean, he constructed his career the best.

[Jesse Ventura]

If you come out with a sequel immediately after the film, everybody knows it's just a money rip off.

[Bill Simmons]

That's true.

[Jesse Ventura]

They're capitalizing on the. Arnold wouldn't fall victim to that. The money he turned down, you would have been astounded. And he turned them. I won't say because it's no one's business. But in fact, I raised. I said, hey, Blaine will do. Bring Blaine's twin brother. He'll do it for half. I said, you can resurrect me. I'll do it.

[Bill Simmons]

Blade as a brother. Oh, my God, there he is.

[Jesse Ventura]

Blaine's twin brother. There he is. You'll do it for half.

[Bill Simmons]

He was fighting in Korea when Arnold ran in California. Did he talk to you about it because you had already been through it in Minnesota, Just did it.

[Jesse Ventura]

No. Arnold and I never discussed politics once during my campaign or during his. He lives in California. I live in Minnesota. Why am I going to campaign for him in California? What the hell is he going to say in Minnesota?

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I don't think he had to campaign, but he could ask you for advice about being a non politician who's a celebrity trying to run this stuff.

[Jesse Ventura]

He didn't need it and neither did I. We both won, didn't we?

[Bill Simmons]

Interesting.

[Jesse Ventura]

So we must have did it right, didn't we?

[Bill Simmons]

And then Trump does it in 2016. Well, steal some of your playbook.

[Jesse Ventura]

He took all of it. He's still riding it. And they won't admit it. They won't. He took all of it. Took my playbook. Every. I didn't raise money. I held rallies. You know how much money I raised to become governor?

[Bill Simmons]

Wasn't it like less than a million bucks?

[Jesse Ventura]

300,000.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

That's all I raised. If I ran for. I'll tell you what, I could have beat either one. I could have won the presidency if I had. If Mark Cuban would have backed me financially. Like, who do you call it back? Trump. I'd have beat both of them if I don't want to do what year?

[Bill Simmons]

2016, right now.

[Jesse Ventura]

And Trump knows it. You want to know why he knows it? He's in the Pro Wrestling hall of Fame. He knows damn well I'm the greatest talker there's ever been in wrestling. He knows damn well he couldn't hold a candle to me if I had a debate with him. The best thing he could do would be sit in a chair, keep his mouth shut, and let me talk.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. Physically, he would be able to intimidate you.

[Jesse Ventura]

Oh, not a bit. Donald Trump knows deep in his heart, and Jesse Ventura has never lost an election. I would have been the biggest threat he'd ever had out there because I'd have beat him.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, he wrote.

[Jesse Ventura]

He wrote. Why else I'd have beat him? I ain't a criminal.

[Bill Simmons]

He wrote a book in 2000, and he was talking about how you got elected governor in Minnesota, and he said it's because he talks straight. Non politicians like Ventura are the wave of the future. He wrote that in 2000. He wasn't wrong on that one.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah. Yes, he was, though, in a way, because he didn't talk straight.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I'm just saying non politicians.

[Jesse Ventura]

He took it beyond that. He took it to Wrestling. Lied about everything.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, and he also learned some stuff from Vince too.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, no, no. And I mean lied about everything. He just say whatever he wanted to say. I'll be interested now in the. And I'll leave it at this. Let's watch in the next four years how much of that stuff gets implemented.

[Bill Simmons]

You liked him in 2015 when he was running. You were for it.

[Jesse Ventura]

No, I wasn't necessarily. I don't support Democrats or Republican. He joined the Republican Party and he even did worse. He joined the ultra conservative evangelical right. Pretty hard for an agnostic atheist to support that.

[Bill Simmons]

Why didn't you run again after 03?

[Jesse Ventura]

Multiple reasons. Personal. More to do in life. I could have won easily. I remember when I had the highest approval ratings in Minnesota history at 73%, 72%. And I remember right before reelection was due to happen, I had fallen to 49%. And the media immediately challenged me and said, oh my God, for the first time, you're under 50%. I looked at the media and I said, are you guys really that stupid? I said, you must consider something. It's a three person race. If I'm at 49%, that means I'm up 12. I won with 37.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

So if I'm now at 49, I'm up 12. It's a landslide. People forget in a three person race, the dynamics change.

[Bill Simmons]

You were not a huge fan of the media when you were. When you were governor.

[Jesse Ventura]

Only mainly because they attacked my children. They couldn't attack nothing else. So they had to go after my son. They had to go after my kids.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, that sounded like that was a big reason why you didn't want to do it again.

[Jesse Ventura]

One of the reasons. The other was money. You know how much I was being governor for? Let's get it on the board.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

All right. When I was governor, I got paid 120,000 a year. You know how much the football coach at the University of Minnesota makes? 4 to 5 million a year.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

So I guess coaching football has more responsibility than being governor. I can only assume that by how our society pays. The governor makes. Now he makes 150. But at my time it was 120. And the football coach makes 4 million. 5 million. Okay. Out of the 120,000, I had to pay taxes.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, right.

[Jesse Ventura]

Out of the 120,000, I also had to pay for my car that drove me around. They deduct the mileage to and from the Capitol. They only let you have it during the workday. So I said to Them. Okay, I'll drive my private car to the capitol. Then I'll take the governor's car so I don't get charged money. Oh, Public safety come in, said you can't do that. Why we need you in the governor's car because it's got the weapons and the safety and the radios. So It's a catch 22. They stick, make you use the car, and then charge you for it. It comes out of your paycheck. It don't end there. You know what else I had to pay for? Every meal that me and my family ate at the governor's residence is deducted out of my pay.

[Bill Simmons]

So you were like writing books when you're in office. You were doing a bunch of different things to try to make more money.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I was. I was being governor of Minnesota in the end, I'd say for 40 grand a year.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, there you go.

[Jesse Ventura]

And I'm in charge of a $16 billion budget. What do you think I'd be making if I was the CEO in the private sector of a $16 billion company? If I was the CEO? 120 a year.

[Bill Simmons]

It sounds like you should have been the football coach.

[Jesse Ventura]

Yeah, it pays a lot better. I might even win more. But anyway, no, that was a reason I didn't run again. Being honest. The money.

[Bill Simmons]

Oh.

[Jesse Ventura]

I could have. I guess I could have made more money if I wanted to become corrupt. You know, if I'd have wanted to sell my soul to rock and roll and take some payola. I suppose there was money to be made. Jesse was just too naive. And Jesse's just too honest. I don't do that. That's called public service. I did 14 years of it. Six in the Navy, four as a governor and four as a mayor.

[Bill Simmons]

Looking back, what was the most fair criticism of you as a politician?

[Jesse Ventura]

Probably that I speak first before I think that I'll react and say something that I'll. Then they'll. I'll have to make amends for it. Because you're in the political arena. That's what's wonderful. Now, about coming back to wrestling.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah. You don't have to worry about that. Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

Handcuffs are off. I can say anything I want about anyone.

[Bill Simmons]

Sounds like you're excited about this.

[Jesse Ventura]

I am. I'm very excited about it. I mean, I. Well, I'm. I don't discuss finances, but it's acceptable. And I'll be doing four a year.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah, well, the bigger thing is that your. Your back, which always felt stupid that you weren't back I'm back.

[Jesse Ventura]

And, and, and, and for me, it's, it's, it's concluding a career that probably never should have finished.

[Bill Simmons]

Right.

[Jesse Ventura]

And maybe now there'll be closure.

[Bill Simmons]

Yeah.

[Jesse Ventura]

Jesse can broadcast till he dies and then they can have my WWE funeral.

[Bill Simmons]

Well, I said, you don't know. I, you said you don't like looking back. But when I think of the 80s as wrestling blows up, I mean, you're right at the center of all of it. Hogan's leading the way, and there's probably like five, six, seven, eight other guys right behind who are helping push it up. And you were one of those people.

[Jesse Ventura]

Sure.

[Bill Simmons]

And especially, like the TV stuff was so good.

[Jesse Ventura]

Wrestling changed then from becoming a live spectator sport, drawing the money, territorial lags. The big money then became television, like it is in all sports. I remember when I broadcast football for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I did their two years of Buccaneer football down in Tampa. And I remember that Hugh Culverhouse paid off. He was the owner of the Bucks. He paid all his bills, including all the players, everything with his TV contract so that people in the seats, that was all his profit. He, all the people that sold out Tampa Stadium every week to see the Bucks play, that was pure huge money because the TV contract paid for all the rest.

[Bill Simmons]

So as we head into 2025, you're getting closure with WWE. You'll be back on TV a little bit. Dee, before we go, how are you feeling about politics in the mid-2020s? Because you never really liked the two party system and you're a huge critic of it. That was really one of your pieces of your platform. Where are we now? As we headed to the mid-2020s, we're.

[Jesse Ventura]

Still part of the two party dictatorship. I like to steal that term from my friend Ralph Nader. Ralph used that the two party dictatorship, because that's what it is. It's a two party dictatorship. The only problem here, you want to know where I'm at. It's simple. It's real simple. I took an oath over 50 years ago, and I took this oath before I married my wife. And this summer, my wife and I are going to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary.

[Bill Simmons]

Wow. Congrats.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, I'd like to proudly say, name me any other couple in wrestling.

[Joe House]

Who.

[Jesse Ventura]

Can now say they're going to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Well, but I took this oath before. I took an oath to her, and I honor my oath, obviously to her for 50 years now. And the oath I took before that was the oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. I took an oath to that constitution. And unfortunately, January 6th, in my opinion, and I don't give a shit what anyone else says, I watched it. Our Constitution was attacked and violated, and there was an attempted coup d'etat and the people that did it, in my opinion, committed treason. And they should have been convicted for their treasonous activity of overrunning our capital and carrying a Confederate flag through my capital of the United States of America. They carried a Confederate flag, the Republicans, and they have not apologized for it. Not one of them. And they still today have not apologized for it. And what did they do? They didn't get convicted for it. So they rallied up and they now have taken the power and the control. So as far as I'm concerned, this country doesn't have a constitution anymore because the people in charge don't care about a constitution. They violated it already and they'll violate it again as soon as they need to.

[Bill Simmons]

Oof. It's a tough way to end the convo, but I guess we're going to end it there. Well, not saying you're wrong.

[Jesse Ventura]

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Bill Simmons]

I didn't say you were wrong.

[Jesse Ventura]

No, I'm just saying that. And people may say, I've sure got a narrow. Yeah, I do. Because I took an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I failed. And I don't like to fail. And let's remember something. I believe it was Ben Franklin said to us, we've given you a republic if you can keep it. Well, I believe we lost it this year.

[Bill Simmons]

Jesse Ventura. It was great to finally have you on the pod. Congrats on returning to the WWE December 14, Saturday night's main event. You're back.

[Jesse Ventura]

Well, what you got today is just a sample.

[Bill Simmons]

I can't wait. Great to see you. I'm glad you're doing well.

[Jesse Ventura]

Take care.

[Bill Simmons]

All right, that's it for the podcast. Thanks to Jesse Ventura, thanks to Joe House, thanks to Steve Saruti and Kyle Creighton. Thanks to everybody who came to the live show in Denver. I will be back on Sunday. You can join me and the cuz on Sunday night on my YouTube feed, the bill Simmons channel. Maybe I'll make an appearance on the ringer Sunday pregame show on YouTube today as well.

[Jesse Ventura]

Who knows?

[Bill Simmons]

Knows. Depends what kind of mood I'm in. Enjoy the weekend. I will see you on Sunday night. Must be 21 plus in President select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 + in President D.C. gambling problem call 100 Gambler or visit rg-help.com, call 1-887-897777 or visit ccpg.org chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gambling helpline ma.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24. 7 support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8-Hopeny or text hopeny in New York.